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FOR COLLECTING AND PRINTING

RELICS OF POPULAR ANTIQUITIES, &c.,

ESTABLISHED IN

THE YEAR MHCCCLXXVII1.

Alter et Idem.

PUBLICATIONS

THE FOLK-LORE SOCIETY.

XLI.

[1897.]

The Folk-Lore Society.

(1898.)

President.

ALFRED NUTT.

Fice'-presitients.

THE HON. JOHN ABERCROMBY.

MISS C. S. BURNE.

EDWARD CLODD.

G. LAURENCE GOMME, F.S.A.

PROF. A. C. HADDON, M.A., D.Sc., M.R.I.A.

ANDREW LANG, M.A., LL.D,

THE RIGHT HON. SIR JOHN LUBBOCK, BART., M.P., D.C.L.
LL.D., F.R.S., F.S.A.

Lt.-Gen. PITT-RIVERS, D.C.L., F.R.S., F.S.A.

PROFESSOR F. YORK POWELL, M.A., F.S.A.

PROFESSOR J. RHYS, M.A., LL.D., F.S.A.

THE REV. PROFESSOR A. H. SAYCE, M.A., LL.D., D.D.
PROFESSOR EDWARD B. TYLOR, LL.D., F.R.S.

Council.

C. J. BILLSON, M.A.

DR. KARL BLIND.

MISS M. ROALFE COX.

W. CROOKE, B.A.

LELAND L. DUNCAN, F.S.A.

J. P. EMSLIE.

DR. M. GASTER.

T. GOWLAND.

E. SIDNEY HARTLAND, F.S.A.
T. W. E. HIGGENS.

JOSEPH JACOBS, B.A.

F. B. JEYONS, M.A., Litt.D.
PROF. W. P. KER, M.A.

W. F. KIRBY, F.L.S., F.E.S.

J. T. NAAKE.

T. FAIRMAN ORDISH, F.S.A.
W. H. D. ROUSE, M.A.

M. J. WALHOUSE.

HENRY B. WHEATLEY, F.S.A.
A. R. WRIGHT.

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i^on. auditor.

F. G. GREEN.

Secretary.

F. A. MILNE, M.A., 11, Old Square, Lincoln’s Inn, London, W.C.

publications Committee.

E. SIDNEY HARTLAND (Chairman) ; G. L. GOMME (Vice-Chairman) ;
MISS ROALFE COX; W. CROOKE; J. JACOBS; W. F. KIRBY ; PRO-
FESSOR W. P. KER.

13tbltograpf)8 Committee.

G. L. GOMME (Chairman) ; L. L. DUNCAN ; J. JACOBS ; W. F. KIRBY ;
J. T. NAAKE.

iHtiseunt Committee.

G. L. GOMME ; J. P. EMSLIE ; ARTHUR J. EVANS ; T. GOWLAND ;
MISS M. C. FFENNELL ; A. R. WRIGHT.

jfinanee anti Ceneral Purposes Committee.

E W. BRABROOK (Chairman) ; G. L. GOMME ; DR. GASTER :
T. W. E. HIGGENS; REV. H. N. HUTCHINSON; T. F. ORDISH;
F. G. GREEN; H. RAYNBIRD; W. H. D. ROUSE; M. J. WALHOUSE.
The President and Treasurer are ex-o fficio members of all Committees.

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

23 p tfje £amc 8utf)0r.

SEVEN YEARS AMONG THE FJORT.
1886-7.

Crown 8 vo. 7 s. 6d. Illustrated.
LONDON : SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, & CO.

Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2015

https://archive.org/details/notesonfolkloreoOOdenn

FJORT MOTHER AND CHILD.

Frontispiece.

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NOTES ON

* MAR 23 1911 *

THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT

(FRENCH CONGO).

R. E. DENNETT,

AUTHOR OF “SEVEN YEARS AMONG THE FJORT.”

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY

MARY H. KINGSLEY.

ILLUSTRATED.

LONDON :

PUBLISHED FOR THE FOLK-LORE SOCIETY

BY DAVID NUTT, 270-271, STRAND.

1898.

PRINTED BY

J. B. NICHOLS AND SONS,
PARLIAMENT MANSIONS,
VICTORIA STREET, WESTMINSTER, S.W.

PREFACE.

The following collections reached my hands in a more or less
fragmentary state. The bulk of the work had been written at
one time, and little was needed to put it into a state for
publication. But other portions, and those not the least
important, had been written at different times and with
different objects, and the task of weaving them all together in
the author’s absence was not a light one. Thus, though the
author has read the proofs of all but Appendix II., it will be
easily understood that the difficulties involved in passing a book
of this kind through the press, while he was residing several
thousand miles away, are such as to account for many imper-
fections, which would have been rectified had he been able him-
self to determine its final form and to superintend its publication.
The sins of omission, of occasional repetition, and perhaps of
occasional obscurity, that may be found, must therefore be laid
at the editor’s, and not at the author’s door. I can only hope
that the circumstances may be taken into account to extenuate
these offences.

The difficulties I have referred to would, indeed, have been
insuperable had it not been for the incessant help of Miss
Kingsley. The debt due to her is by no means confined to the

PREFACE.

writing of her interesting and valuable introduction and the
arrangement of Appendix I. She read all the manuscripts and
selected in the first instance those most suitable for publication.
Innumerable questions of detail have arisen in the course of
printing, making it necessary to refer constantly to her, and in
every case her knowledge of the country and the people, her
time and thought, have been ungrudgingly placed at the
service of the Folk-Lore Society. Lastly, she selected the
photographs to be reproduced for the plates, and laid her own
stock of negatives under contribution for the purpose of adding
to them. It has been a matter of regret that the Society has
been unable to avail itself to a greater extent of her kindness in
this direction.

I am also indebted to Mr. W. H. D. Rouse for help kindly
rendered in revising the Latin translation of the songs.

The orthography of the word Fjort has been adopted with
some hesitation. Mr. Dennett has himself not always adhered
to this form. In the chapter on the Death and Burial of the
Fjort (which was communicated independently to the Society
and published in Folk-Lore , vol. viii., p. 133), as it originally
stood, he wrote Fiote. The pronunciation of the word would, I
am informed, be more closely represented in ordinary English
spelling as Feeaught.

E. SIDNEY HARTLAND.

Highgarth , Gloucester ,

July , 1898 .

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Introduction, by Miss Kingsley ... ... ... i.

I. The Folklore op the Fjort ... ... ... 1

II. How a Native Story is told ... ... ... 25

III. How the Wives restored their Husband to

Life ... ... ... ... ... ... 33

IY. How Nsassi (Gazelle) got Married ... ... 35

Y. The Yanishing Wife ... ... ... ... 39

YI. Another Yanishing Wife ... ... ... ... 42

YII. The Jealous Wife... ... ... ... ... 46

YIII. Ngamba’s Balloon ... ... ... ... ... 49

IX. The Wicked Husband ... ... ... ••• 54

X. The Wonderful Chipd .,. ... ... ... 56

XI. How Kengi lost her Child ... ... ... 58

XII. The Twin Brothers ... ... ... ... 60

XIII. The Younger Brother who knew more than

the Elder... ... ... ... ... ... 65

XIY. The Chimpanzee and Gorilla ... ... ... 69

XY. The Antelope and the Leopard ... ... ... 71

XYI. How the Spider won and lost Nzambi’s Daughter 74
XYII. The Turtle and the Man

XYIII. Killing a Leopard 80

XIX. The Gazelle and the Leopard ... ... ... 82

XX. The Wild Cat and the Gazelle ... ... 85

XXI. The Crafty Woman overreaches herself ... 86

XXII. How the Fetish Sunga punished my Great-

Uncle’s Twin Brother, Basa ... ... ... 88

XXIII. The Babbit and the Antelope ... ... ... 90

a *

CONTENTS.

PAGE

XXIV. The Fight between the two Fetishes, Lifuma

AND ChIMPUKELA ... ... ... ... ... 94

XXV. The Fetish of Chilunga ... ... ... ... 96

XXVI. The Leopard and the Crocodile ... ... ... 98

XXVII. Why some Men are White and others Black 101
XXVIII. The Bird-Messengers ... ... ... ... 103

XXIX. Nzambi Mpungu’s Ambassador ... ... ... 105

XXX. Why the Crocodile does not eat the Hen ... 106

XXXI. The Three Brothers ... ... ... ... 108

XXXII. Death and Burial of the Fjort... ... ... Ill

Appendix I. ... ... ... ... ... ... 117

Appendix II 150

Index ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 164

LIST OF PLATES.

I. Fjort Mother and Child Frontispiece

II. A Bakutu who came to Loango to see

Nzambi To face page 18

III. Funeral Shimbec ... ... ... ... „ 113

IV. Prince Xikaia by the Funeral Car of

his Brother, Linguister Francisco ... „ 114

V. Climbing a Palm-tree for Palm-wine ... „ 121

NOTES ON THE FOLKLOEE OF THE EJOET.

INTRODUCTION.

Ever since the Folk-Lore Society did me the honour to
ask me to write an introduction to these stories, I have
had a gradually intensifying sense of my incapacity to do it
properly. It is true that I am personally acquainted with the
tribe of Africans to whom these stories belong — that I have
heard many of them told in the way Mr. Dennett so accurately
describes — that I know Mr. Dennett personally, and am therefore
acquainted with the many claims that anything he may have to
say has upon students of primitive culture, because he speaks
on the subject of the Fjorts from a knowledge gained during
seventeen years of close association and sympathy with them,
and possesses also a thorough knowledge of their language.
Yet, these things notwithstanding, I still feel that someone
else should write this Introduction, because I am myself only
a collector of West African ideas, and these stories clearly
require a preface from the pen of a comparative ethnologist who

could tell you how the Undine-like story of the vanishing wife

INTRODUCTION.

got into Fjort folklore. I can only say 1 have not only heard
this story, but I have known in the flesh several ladies whose
husbands were always most anxious that they should not hear
or see some one particular thing that would cause them to dis-
appear, for ladies who have this weakness are always very
valuable.

And again, I cannot tell you how the Fjorts came by the
set of stories they and their neighbouring tribes possess regard-
ing the descent into hell of living men, of which Mr. Dennett
gives the finest example I know of in the story of u The
Twin Brothers”: nor yet again how they came by the Pro-

metheus-like story of u How the Spider won and lost Nzambi’s
Daughter.” All these explanations I must leave to the com-
parative ethnologist; but in so doing it may be as well to mention
a few things regarding the difficulties that present themselves,
even to the mere collector, in forming opinions regarding West
African folklore.

First, there is the difficulty of getting reliable information
regarding the opinion of the natives on things, as that opinion
at present stands. Secondly, there is the difficulty of forming
an opinion as to wby it stands in that form ; whether it arises
from the native’s uninterrupted observations of Nature, modified
by his peculiar form of intellect ; or whether it is a white idea
primarily, but in a state modified by having passed through a
generation or so of African minds.

Regarding the difficulty of getting reliable information upon
native customs it is not necessary for me to speak at great
length, because it is now fully recognised by scientific students
of the subject. The best way of surmounting the difficulty is
for the ethnologist to go and study the mind of the native

INTRODUCTION.

iii

personally ; but this method is not one easily followed in
West Africa on account of the deadliness of the climate and
other drawbacks. But even if this method is followed, as it was
by Bastian, Buchholz, and Hubbe Schlieden, it is still greatly to
the student’s advantage to compare his own collected information
with that of men who have been for years resident in West Africa,
who are well acquainted with the native language, and who have
had opportunities of observing the native conduct under all sorts
of difficulties, dangers, joys, and sorrows — who have, as the old
saying puts it, summered and wintered them. Unfortunately
such white men are rare in West Africa ; but so great is the
value of their opinions in my eyes that I have always en-
deavoured to get the few there are of them to publish their
information for the benefit of students of ethnology at home,
instead of leaving these worthy people to the mercy of travellers’
tales. Do not however imagine that I regard the traveller as,
next to the mining expert, the most unreliable source of informa-
tion extant. Even the African traveller has given reliable
information on many things, but the conditions under which
African travel is carried on are not favourable to the quiet,
patient sympathetic study of the native mind ; for that we must
look to the white resident in Africa, the missionary, and the
trader.

To give you an instance of the ease with which native cus-
toms might be badly observed by a traveller, I will cite an
experience of my own when I (in spite of not being a true
traveller but a wandering student of early law), nearly fell into
error. Passing down a branch of the Karkola River in the
Oroungou country, in a canoe with a choice band of natives for
crew, we suddenly came upon a gentleman on the bank who

b 2

INTRODUCTION.

equally suddenly gave several dismal howls and fired at us with
the scatter gun prevalent in West Africa. Having a rooted
antipathy to being fired at, and knowing that the best way to
prevent a recurrence of the unpleasantness when dealing wdth a
solitary native is to tackle him before he reloads, I jumped on
to the bank. The man turned and fled, and I after him down a
narrow bush-path followed at a discreet distance by a devoted
member of the crew yelling for me to come back. I succeeded
in getting hold of my flying friend by his powder-bag and
asked him why he had behaved so extremely badly. Then, when
the rest of the crew saw that the incident promised entertain-
ment without danger, they joined us, and we found the poor
man was merely suffering under domestic affliction. One of his
wives had run away with a gentleman from a neighbouring
village, and so he had been driven to fire at and attempt to kill
a member of any canoe-crew from yet another village that
might pass his way ; because, according to the custom of the
country, the men of this village would thereby have to join him
in attacking the village of the man who had stolen his wife. So
you see, if I had not minded being fired at, but just put down in
my note-book that the people of this region were hostile savages
and passed on, I should not have come across this interesting
piece of native law, nor any of the other interesting pieces of
native law I gained knowledge of during the subsequent
palavers. This is only one instance of many which I have come
across, wherein it would be almost impossible for a person
rapidly passing through a country to form a true opinion
regarding a native custom, and these instances have all
confirmed me in my respect for the resident white man;s

opinion.

INTRODUCTION.

The missionary opinion has of late years been regarded by
the ethnologist somewhat suspiciously, as being a biassed one,
but, however this may be, we are very heavily indebted to the
missionaries for the work they have done in native languages.
This department is one to which the missionary has naturally
devoted himself, because his aim in dealing with natives is to
make them comprehend his teaching. He is, for many reasons,
not so much interested in other parts of native culture. Their
manners, customs, laws, and religions are, from his point of
view, bad and foolish ; but experience has taught him that the
natives will listen to his teaching as soon as they can understand
him, and therefore he is mostly content to leave alone the study
of other things than the language, as little better than waste of
time. There have been, however, several notable exceptions to
this general rule. The works published by the Rev. J. L.
Wilson,* the Rev. H. Goldie, f and the Rev. H. M. Waddell are of
immense value, both from the great opportunities of observation
these gentlemen had, and from their speaking of native customs
and ideas with a knowledge of the native language. Unfortu-
nately, the missionary who could surpass all these, valuable as
they are, the Rev. Dr. Nassau, shows no sign of breaking the
silence which afflicts all men who really know West Africa.

I cannot help thinking thaf the time has now come when it is
the duty of some ethnologist to turn philologist for himself, with
the assistance already provided for him by the missionaries, and
work at African languages, not from the point of view of their
structure, classification, and diffusion, but from that of their inner
meaning, and I can safely promise him the discovery of an

* Western Africa. J. Leighton Wilson. London, 1856.

t Calabar and its Mission. Hugh Goldie. Edinburgh, 1890»

INTRODUCTION.

extremely interesting mass of matter. I feel sure that we cannot
thoroughly understand the inner working of the African mind
until this department of the study of it has been efficiently worked
up; for the languages contain, and are founded on, a very peculiar
basis of figurative thought, and until that is thoroughly under-
stood we really cannot judge the true meaning of native state-
ments on what is called totemism, and sundry other subjects.

The other resident white who lives in close contact with the
native is the trader. I regret to say I can cite to you no book
of reference on native customs by a trader in modern times, save
Mr. J. Whitford’s ; * but in former days we had several, chief
among which are those of Bosnian/!" Sieur Brue,J and Barbot;
and the great exactness of these makes one all the more regret the
absence of the West Coast trader from modern literature. I
have done my utmost to induce many of the gentlemen whom
I have had the honour to know personally to break through
their silence and give us works again like Bosnian’s Guinea ,
they being by experience and knowledge so pre-eminently fitted
to speak regarding native customs ; and I think with regret of
the perfectly irreplaceable library of knowledge that has been
lost by the death of Captain Boler of Bonny, and Major
Parminter, and of the other great collections of facts that
Mr. Wallace, Mr. Bruce Walker, Mr. Hart, Mr. Pinnock,
Mr. Forshaw, and several others could give us. Mr. Dennett
is so far, however, the only one inclined to do anything else
but shake his head in horror over the mis-statements circulated
about Africans.

* Trading Life in Western and Central Africa. J. Whitford.

f Bosnian’s Description of Guinea. London, 1705.

X Labat’s Afrique Occidentale, 1728.

INTRODUCTION.

Vll

The position of the trader towards the native is such as to make
his information and observations particularly valuable to the
ethnologist. The trader is not intent on altering the native
culture to a European one; but he is intent on understanding the
thing as it stands, so that he may keep at peace with the natives
himself and induce them to keep peace with each other, for on
peace depends the prosperity of West African regions in the
main. We have not any tribe on the West Coast that subsists
by war; we have no slave-raiding tribes that are directly in
touch with the coast-trader ; * but we have a series of middlemen-
tribes through whose hands the trade from the interior passes to
the latter. The middlemen system is in its highest state of
development from the Niger to the Benito. Above this part —
namely, in the regions of the Bight of Benin — the power of the
middleman has been broken considerably by Mohammedan in-
fluence ; while below, from the Benito to the Congo, it is now
being considerably upset by the invasion of the Bafan from the
interior, and the enterprise of the French explorers. To the
south of the Congo it has long ago been broken by the Portu-
guese. Therefore the trader’s greatest danger is now in the
Niger districts, when a chief, on account of some quarrel, stopping
trade passing through his district, may become a serious nuisance
to the white man. The management of the chief, however, has
in those regions now passed into the hands of the English govern-
ment in the Niger Coast Protectorate, and into the hands of the
Royal Niger Company in the regions of the middle Niger; so it
is not so interesting to study the relationships of the native and the
trader in those regions as it is to study those existing between the

* This statement does not include the Royal Niger Company, who have
pushed up through the middle-man zone.

Vlll

INTRODUCTION.

individual white traders, such as Mr. Dennett, and the native, as
you can still find them in Congo Fram^ais, and in KaCongo and
Angola. Here the trader is practically dealing single-handed with
the native authorities, and is regarded by them in much the same
light as they regard one of their great spirits, as an undoubtedly
superior, different sort of creation from themselves, yet as one
who is likewise interested in mundane affairs, and whom they try
to manage and propitiate and bully for their own advantage ;
while the trader, on his part, gets to know them so well during
this process that he usually gets fond of them, as all white men
who really know Africans always do, and looks after them when
they are sick or in trouble, and tries to keep them at peace with
each other and with the white government, for on peace depends
the prosperity that means trade. Therefore, on the whole, the
trader knows his African better than all the other sorts of
white men put together, and he demonstrates this in two ways.
Firstly, he calls upon the gods to be informed why he is con-
demned to live and deal with such a set of human beings, as
those blacks ; and then, if the gods remove him from them and
send him home to live among white men, he spends the rest of
his days contrasting the white and black human beings to the
disadvantage of the former, and hankering to get back to the
Coast, which demonstrates that the trader feels more than other
men the fascination of West Africa, in other words that he under-
stands West Africa, and therefore that he is the person most
fitted to speak regarding it, and the most valuable collector of
facts that the student of the primitive culture in the region can
get to act for him.

I will now turn from presenting you with the credentials
of Mr. Dennett to the consideration of the value of these

INTRODUCTION.

stories which he has sent up to the Folk-Lore Society, and
which are laid before you quite untouched by other white
hands. Mr. Dennett’s own knowledge of the Fjort language has
enabled him to give them in a fuller and more connected form
than is usually given to the African story.

The position in the native culture of stories, such as those
of which you have specimens here, is exceedingly interesting.
African native literature (if one may so call it, while it has no
native written language) consists of four branches — proverbs,
stories, riddles, and songs. Burton, in his Wit and Wisdom of
West Africa, collected many of the proverbs; and Ellis, in his im-
portant -works on the Tshi, Ewe, and Yoruba-speaking peoples,
has also collected specimens of all of the three first-named
classes. So far, I think, no one has dealt with the songs, and
indeed it would be exceedingly difficult to do so, as in the
songs, more than in any other native thing, as far as I can
judge, do you find yourself facing the strange under-meaning
in the very words themselves. But, interesting as the songs and
riddles are, the proverbs and stories are infinitely the more
important portions of the native literature, for in them we get
the native speaking to his fellow-native, not to the white man,
about his beliefs.

The stories can be roughly divided into three classes
(only roughly, because one story will sometimes have material
in it belonging to two classes) — legal, historical, and play.
You. have in this small collection examples of all these. The
Nzambi stories are historico-legal ; the “ Crocodile and the
Hen” is legal; “the Wonderful Child ” is play-story, and so on.

As a general rule, historical stories are rare among West
African tribes ; you find more of them among the Fjort than

INTRODUCTION.

among the Ewe or Tshi * people even, and infinitely more than
amongst true forest-belt tribes, like the Ajumba, Fan, and
Shekiani. I have repeatedly questioned natives regarding their
lack of interest in the past history of their tribes, and have
always had the same sort of answer: u Why should we trouble
ourselves about that ? They (the dead) lived as we live now.
A chief long ago bought, and sold, and fought ; we now buy,
and sell, and fight. We are here in this world; he has gone
away.” This spirit obtains, of course, only regarding the
human experiences of the men who have lived 66 in the old
time.”

I well remember being struck with a phrase Dr. Nassau used:
u the future which is all around them.” Once I asked him
why he used it, and he only smiled that grave, half-pitying
smile of his; but as my knowledge of the native grew by
experience, I came to understand that phrase, and to put along-
side it the phrase : 66 the past which is all around them.” I
am afraid a vague make of mind like my own is necessary in
order to grasp the African’s position ; for every mortal printer
who comes across my quotation of the Doctor’s phrase puts
a long note of interrogation, instantly, in the margin of the
proof.

Legal stories, however, do not plunge us into such mental
swamps when studying them ; and they are the stories which
have the greatest practical value, for in them is contained
evidence of the moral code of the African, and a close study of
a large number of them gives you a clearer perception of the
native ideal of right conduct than any other manifestation of his

* This is the spelling of the word used by Ellis, but it is pronounced by
the natives “T’chewhe.”

INTRODUCTION.

mind that I know of. You will find them all pointing out the
same set of lessons : that it is the duty of a man to honour his
elders ; to shield and sustain those dependent on him, either by
force of hand or by craft; that violence, or oppression, or wrong
done can be combated with similar weapons ; that nothing can
free a man from those liabilities which are natural to him ; and,
finally, that the ideal of law is justice — a cold, hard justice
which does not understand the existence of mercy as a thing
apart from justice. For example, a man, woman, or child, not
knowing what it does, damages the property of another human
being. Native justice requires, and contains in itself, that if it
can be proved the act was committed in ignorance that was not
a culpable ignorance, the doer cannot be punished according to
the law. I by no means wish you to think that the administra-
tion of the law is perfect, but merely that the underlying
principles of the law itself are fairly good.

The part these stories play in the administration of justice is
remarkable. They clearly are the equivalents to leading cases
with us, and just as the English would cite A v. B, so would the
African cite some such story as “The Crocodile and the Hen,”
or any other stories you find ending with “ and the people said
it was right.” Naturally, the art in pleading lies in citing the
proper story for the case — one that either puts your client in the
light of a misunderstood, suffering innocent, or your adversary
in that of a masquerading villain.

It may at first strike the European as strange, when, listen-
ing to the trial of a person for some offence before either a set
of elders, or a chief, he observes that the discussion of the affair
soon leaves the details of the case itself, and busies itself with
the consideration of the conduct of a hyaena and a bush-cat, or

Xll

INTRODUCTION.

the reason why monkeys live in trees, or some such matter ; but
if the European once gets used to the method, and does not
merely request to be informed why he should be expected to
play at iEsop’s Fables at his time of life, the fascination of the
game will seize on him, and he will soon be able to play at
iEsop’s Fables with the best, and to point out that the case, say,
of the Crocodile and the Hen, does not exonerate some friend of
a debtor of his from having committed iniquity in not having
given up property, lodged with him by the debtor, to its rightful
owner.

Kegarding the play-stories, it is not necessary for me to speak ,
they are merely interesting from the scraps of information you
find embedded in them regarding native customs and the native
way of looking on life.

The form of religion which Mr. Dennett calls Nkissism re-
quires a great deal of attention and study, and seems to me ex-
ceedingly interesting, most particularly so in its form in KaCongo
and Loango, where, in my opinion, it is an imported religion.
I say my opinion , merely because I do not wish to involve Mr.
Dennett in a statement of which he may disapprove ; but you
will find Mr. Dennett referring; to the manner in which Fumu
Kongo, the King of Congo, sent his two sons to take possession
of the provinces of KaCongo and Loango, which to this day bear
their names, and that he sent with them wise men, learned in
the cult of Kzambi, and that at each place whereat the princes
stayed they left a Nkiss. I am driven to conjecture that in
introducing these Nkissi and their attendant Kgangas, the two
princes were introducing a foreign religion into KaCongo and
Loango — the religion of their father, the King of Congo. During
my own sojourns on the South- West- African Coast, I got to know

INTRODUCTION.

Xlll

whereabouts you may expect to meet with the Nkiss and its
Nganga, when you are coming down the Coast from the north ;
and I can only say that I have never been able myself to find, or
to find among those people more conversant with the Coast than
I am, any trace of the existence of Nkissism until you reach the
confines of the kingdom of Loango. It is true, the essential
forms of fetish -worship and ideas of Loango, KaCongo and
Congo, are common to the districts north of them, namely, the
Ogowe, the Cameroons, the Oil Rivers, and the Bight of Benin ;
yet, if I may so call it, that particular school of fetish called
Nkissism you do not meet with until you strike the northern
limits of the old kingdom of Kongo.

Where exactly this school of fetish arose I am unable to say,
but I think its home, from divers observations made by Sir H.
H. Johnston, who has given much attention to the ethnology ot
the Bantu, must have been the region to the south-east or east-
south-east of the region where it was first discovered by Euro-
peans, namely, in the kingdom of Congo. There are many points
in it which sharply differentiate it from the form of fetish of the
true Negro, and it seems to be the highest form that the fetish of
the Bantu has attained to.

We have an enormous amount of information of an exceed-
ingly interesting character left us by the early Portuguese navi-
gators and by the Italian, Portuguese, and Flemish Roman
Catholic missionaries who worked so devotedly for nearly 200
years from 1490 in the kingdom of Congo. Yet, so far as I
have been able to discover, they give one little, if any, informa-
tion regarding the traditional history of Congo prior to its dis-
covery by the Portuguese. They found there what they regarded
as a prosperous and wealthy state in a condition of considerable

XIV

INTRODUCTION.

culture, an immense territory ruled over by vassal lords subject
to one king, who was a temporal king, clearly distinct from the
fetish king of the true Negroes. From the accounts they give of
the native religion, which, unfortunately for the ethnologist, they
scorned and detested too much to study in detail, there is little
doubt that that form of religion was Nkissism and that 11 the
wizards,” whom they term Gangas, the chasing whereof gave
the worthy fathers such excellent sport, were no other than the
Nganga Nkissi Mr. Dennett describes.

Regarding, however, the territorial relationship between
Congo and KaCongo and Loango these early historians are yet
more unsatisfactory. The missionaries, however, have occasion
now and then to speak of the natives of the north banks of the
Congo, because they were occasionally cast among them when,
by a turn in the wheel of fortune, the wizards got the upper
hand, or a subsidiary chief to the King of Congo rebelled ; and
they always speak of these north-bank people as being fearsome
and savage tribes, given to the eating of men and so on. And
this bad opinion of them was evidently held by the Kongoes
themselves ; for it was with direct intent to get two Capuchin
Fathers killed, for example, that the Count of Sogno, during his
rebellion about 1636, drove the Fathers outof his domains. “ After
having been much misused and unprovided of all necessaries,
they were left on the confines of the Count’s dominions on a
little uninhabited island of the River Zaire* Here they made
a shift to support themselves two or three days, Father Thomas,
who was the least hurt of the two, going out to hunt for their

* Regarding the islanders of the Lower Congo in 1700, Barbot says :
“ They are strong, well-set, live after a beastly manner, and converse
with the Devil.” A Description of the Coasts of North and South Guinea ,
by John Barbot, Agent-General of the Royal Company of Africa and the
Islands of America, at Paris. 1732.

INTRODUCTION.

subsistence. But at length they were unexpectedly delivered
from thence by some pagan fishermen, who took them on board
and carried them to a city of theirs called Bombangoij, in the
kingdom of Angoy.* Here, arriving at night, they were very
courteously entertained by an infidel of the place, who gave them
supper and, moreover, assigned to them a house and three
women to wait on them after the manner of the country. But
our Fathers, not caring to trust themselves among these people,
soon after they had supped, sending away their women, medi-
tated an escape. For this purpose Father Thomas, who was the
best able to walk, took his lame companion on his back and
marched out of the house ; but before he had gone far, he was
forced through weakness to set down his burden under a great
shady tree, which, as soon as day appeared, for fear of discovery
they got up into. Their patron, coming that morning to visit his
guests and finding them gone, much wondered, and well know-
ing they could not go far by reason of the condition he left them
in, immediately -went about to search after them. Coming at
last near the place where they were, and not having yet found
them, a pagan thought came into his head that they might have
been carried away by some spirit, which he expressed after
this manner : 1 If the devil has carried them away, I suppose
he did it that they might make me no recompense for my kind-
ness.’ Our Fathers, hearing this, could not forbear laughing,
even amidst their miseries and misfortunes, and putting out their

* Merolla says : “ Angoij is a kingdom rather in name than in dominion,
having but a small territory. Here, formerly, a certain Mani, happening
to marry a mulatto, daughter to a very rich Portuguese, his father-in law
would needs make him King of Angoij, and for this purpose caused him
to rebel against the King of Kacongo, his lawful lord.” Angoij was a
small territory on the seaward end of the north bank of the Congo.

XVI

INTRODUCTION.

heads from the tree, cried out: i We are here, friend, never
doubt our gratitude ; for we only went out of the house to refresh
ourselves with the rays of the morning sun.’ Hereat the old
man, being exceedingly rejoiced, immediately took them down,
and putting them into two nets (hammocks) sent them away to
Capinda (Kabinda), a port in the kingdom of Angoij, about two
days from Bombangoij.”*

This account, I think, shows clearly that in 1636 Loango
and KaCongo were not provinces of the king of Congo, for
had they been so, the Capuchins would have had no dread of
the inhabitants, but have known they were safe; for, although
they were driven out of Sogno, this had been done entirely
because they were Capuchins. The Count of Sogno immediately
attempted to supply their place with Franciscans, his objection
to Capuchins arising from his regarding them as allies of the
Portuguese and King of Kongo, against whom he was at war;
and, although it may be urged that the early missionaries to
Congo were in the habit of going up trees, some of them, indeed
cautiously bringing out with them from home rope-ladders for
that purpose, yet this is the only instance, I think, of their
climbing up them out of the way of natives. The usual cause
was an u exceeding plentie of lions and tygers and other mon-
sters, for not half of which,” they cheerily observed, u would
they have made a mouthful.”

Proyart gives us a slightly more definite statement. He
says : — u The King of Congo claims the Kingdom of KaCongo
as a province of his States, and the King of KaCongo, doubtless

* A Voyage to Congo, by Father Jerome Merolla da Sorrento, 1682.
Churchill Collection, vol. i. p. 521.

INTRODUCTION.

XVII

by way of reprisals, never calls himself any other title but Ma
Congo, King of Congo, instead of King of KaCongo, a title given
him by foreigners, and one that suits him. These pretensions
are not always unfounded ; many small kingdoms of savage
states, which at the present day share Africa among them, were
originally provinces dependent on other kingdoms, the particular
governors of which usurped the sovereignty. It is not long
since Sogno ceased to be a province of the kingdom of Congo.”*
Unfortunately there is no means of fixing any date to the
severance of the two north-bank provinces from the main king-
dom. Apparently they had asserted their independence long
enough for the question not to have been a burning political one
in Congo at the time of Diego Cao’s discovery of the Congo in
1484. It is, however, idle to conjecture how long prior to that
date KaCongo and Loango ceased to be fiefs of the King of
Congo. It may have been centuries, or it may have been but a
few decades ; for, for some time prior to Diego Cao’s arrival,
Congo itself had been so terribly worried by those interesting,
but, as yet, undetermined people, the Gagas or Gindes (a
fearful, warlike, cannibal tribe, who, according to Battel, f who
was amongst them about 1595, came from Sierra Leone,
harassed the inland borders of Congo and penetrated as far
south as Dondo in Angola) that, at the time of the coming of
Diego Cao, undoubtedly the public mind was entirely concen-
trated on these Gagas — a condition of affairs which enabled the
Portuguese and their missionaries to obtain the ascendancy in

* History of Loango and Kacongo , by the Abbd Proyart. Paris, 1776.

t The Strange Adventures of Andrew Battel of Leigh in Essex. (Purchas
His Pilgrims.) See also A Curious and Exact Account of a Voyage to
Congo in the years 1666 and 1667, by Michael Angelo of Gattina and Denis
de Carli of Piacenza. 1723. Churchill Collection.

XV111

INTRODUCTION.

the kingdom, as they did, and which would, in all human pro-
bability but for their timely arrival, have wiped the kingdom
of Congo out.

This distraction was sufficiently great to have caused a people
so deficient in interest in historical matters to have almost
forgotten the severance from the main kingdom (which was
situated on the southern bank of the Great River) of two
provinces on the northern bank, even had the severance been
comparatively recent — provinces, moreover, that could never
have been much in touch with the throne-town at San Salvador
on account of their difficulty of access, the terrific current
of the river making canoe-journeys across its stream alike
difficult and dangerous.

But a far stronger proof than there is in the scattered
observations relating to the affair in white literature, of the
tradition of the two sons of Fumu Kongo, as given by Mr.
Dennett, being a historical tradition, I think is found in the
existence in KaCongo and Loango of this peculiar form of
fetish, Nkissism. It is surrounded in these provinces on all
sides, save the sea and the Congo, by a dissimilar form of fetish,
which I believe to be the form of fetish Nkissism supplanted.

During my first visit to Africa I came in contact with the
Fjort tribes and learnt much from Mr. Dennett personally
regarding their beliefs and customs ; and all that I myself saw
fully bore out the accuracy of his statements about them.
During my second visit my time was mainly spent among tribes
inhabiting country to the north and north-east of the Fjorts, and
among those tribes I did not find the Nkiss and Nganga as
aforesaid. Nevertheless, I found something extremely like some
of the Nkiss of the Fjorts : deities which, as far as I can see

INTRODUCTION.

XIX

from observations on their powers and spheres of influence, are
simply indistinguishable from some of the Nkiss which Mr.
Dennett describes as acknowledged among the Fjort, such ones
as that of the Mountain Mungo. This sort of deity is called by
the Mpongwe-speaking tribes Ombuiri. They have, however, no
priesthood whatsoever attached to their service. Every human
being who passes one of their places of habitation has to do
obeisance to the Ombuiri who inhabits it, just to give some
trifling object in homage as a token of respect. As a general
rule the Imbuiri (pi.) are, as West African deities go, fairly in-
offensive ; but now and then one will rise up and kill someone
by throwing down a tree on a passer by its forest glade, or, by
swelling up the river it resides in, will cause devastating inunda-
tion. But it is really quite a different species of deity from the
regular Nkiss, such as was introduced by the emissaries of Fumu
Kongo into the regions of KaCongo and Loango. You would
never, for example, if you were a member of a Mpongwe stem
tribe, think of calling in an Ombuiri to settle the question of
who killed a man or who had stolen something. You would
call in a totally different class of spirit . Yet when you are
in KaCongo or Loango, or among the Ivili tribe,* you will
see these great, honourable, ancient Nature-spirits, these Imbuiri
themselves, in charge of a mere human priest employed in the
most trivial affairs concerning thefts of garden hoes or cooking-
pots and such like; and I am quite sure, if you have a Mpongwe
soul in you, you will be deeply shocked at this degradation. If

* A small and dying-out set of Fjorts, living in a few villages near the
confluence of the Ogowe-Okanda and the Ngunie Rivers, having a tradition
that they came from Loango and were driven by bad weather into the
Ogowe and by bad men to their present situation.

c 2

INTRODUCTION.

you were only an ethnologist, ignorant of the little bit of history
regarding the King of Congo and the Nganga he sent with his
Nkissi from his throne-town of San Salvador into the conquered
provinces of KaCongo, Loango and Ngoio, you might be tempted
to regard an Ombuiri having a priest and a ritual of a definite
kind attached to it, as an instance of a development in religious
thought and a demonstration of how gods at large are made.
But with a knowledge of the history of the affair, dateless as
that history is, I think you will be induced to believe that the
Imbuiri have merely suffered that change which nature-spirits
have suffered in other lands taken possession of by a conqueror
with a religion of his own : namely, that some of the spirits
worshipped by the conquered people were held in such respect
that the conquerors held it more politic to adopt them into their
own religion, after making suitable alterations in their characters,
than to attempt to destroy them ; and so it is that to-day you
will find Imbuiri made into Nkissi and existing in esteem and
worship side by side with a very different kind of deity, the
true Nkissi of Fumu Kongo.

The best authority for the present condition of the Fjort
religion is Monteiro, who says : u In times past the King of
Congo was very powerful. All the country, as far as and
including Loanda, the River Congo and Cabinda, was subject
to him and paid him tribute. The missionaries under his pro-
tection worked far and wide, attained great riches, and were of
immense benefit to the country, where they and the Portuguese
established and fostered sugar-cane plantations, indigo manu-
factories, iron- smelting and other kindred trades. With the
discovery and colonisation of the Brazils, however, and the ex-
pulsion of the Jesuits from Angola, the power of the Portuguese

INTRODUCTION.

XXI

and of the King of Congo has dwindled away to its present
miserable condition. The King of Congo is now only Chief
of San Salvador and a few other small towns, and does not
receive the least tribute from any other, nor does he possess any
power in the land. Among the natives of Angola, however, he
still retains a certain amount of prestige as King of Congo, and
all would do homage to him in his presence, as he is considered
to possess the greatest fetish of all the kings and tribes, though
powerless to exact tribute from them.” *

Things are to-day exactly as Monteiro describes them regard-
ing the natives. KaCongo is under Portuguese rule, Loango
under French ; the regions that were part of the old main king-
dom are divided between Portugal and Congo Beige. But the
natives of these countries alike acknowledge the importance of
the King of Congo’s fetish, while just north of Loango you
meet with the regions of the tribes that regard him not ; they
may have heard of him, but his fetish is not their fetish, for they
never fell under the rule of Nkissi.

I need now only detain you with a few remarks about the
infusion of Christian doctrine into the original Fjort fetish.
The admixture of doctrines both from Christian missionary
teaching, and from [.Mohammedan, makes the study of the real
form of the native’s own religion difficult in several West
African districts, notably so at Sierra Leone, the Gold, Slave,
and Ivory coasts, and among the Fjort of the Congo and
Angola. But, provided you are acquainted with the forms of
fetish in districts which have not been under white influence,
such as those of the great forest-belt from the Niger to the

Angola and the River Congo , by J. J. Monteiro. Macmillan, 1875.

XXII

INTRODUCTION.

Niari, a little care will enable you to detect what is, and what
is not, purely native.

It is true that the whole of the Fjorts were under the sway
of Roman Catholicism more thoroughly and for a greater
duration of time than any other West African people have been
under any European influence. The energy with which the
kings of Congo took it up from the first was remarkable, but it
is open to doubt whether those dusky monarchs were not in so
doing as much actuated by temporal considerations as spiritual.
As I have mentioned before, when the Portuguese first came into
the country, the country was in imminent peril from the Gagas,
a peril from which the Portugese rescued it. The whole aim of
the Congoese thereupon became to be as much like the Portu-
guese as possible. Many natives went up to Lisbon and were
received with great courtesy by the king, Joao II.; and while
there they saw-, in the keen but empirical African native way,
how great a veneration the Portuguese held their priests in, how
the very king himself did them homage, and how even ships
durst hardly leave haven on a voyage without a chaplain on
board. And there is little doubt that from these observations the
Congoese regarded the Roman Catholic priests with great
veneration, and thought that in them and their teaching lay the
secret of earthly power, at any rate ; and the king of Congo
and his subsidiary princes did their utmost to get as many of
these priests to come and live among them and instruct them as
possible, and when there the priests themselves, by their own
nobility, devotion, and courage, confirmed the Congoese in their
opinion of their, to them, superhuman powers. Ceaselessly
active, regardless of danger, they led armies into battle, and
notably into that great battle in which Alfonso L of Congo, the

INTRODUCTION.

XX111

Christianised king, fought with his brother, Pasanquitama, for
the crown, and had his army saved from immolation and given
victory by the appearance of St. James and an angelic host
fighting on his side in the crisis of the battle.

It is impossible in the space at my command to enter into the
history of the Roman Catholic mission to Congo, owing to its
great complexity of detail. Capuchins, Jesuits, Franciscans alike
laboured there ; but the doctrine they taught being uniformly
that of Rome, it affords no such difficulty in recognition among
the native traditions as do the results of the other forms of
Christian mission. Moreover, the hold of the missionaries was
not by any means so great in KaCongo and Loango as it was in
the kingdom of Congo itself. Merolla says : u The kingdom of
Loango lies in 5° and a half, south latitude. The Christian
religion was first planted there in the year 1663,* by the labour
and diligence of one Father Ungaro, a friar of our Order.
Father Bernardino Ungaro, on entering into his work of
evangelising Loango, commenced by baptising the king and
queen, after having instructed them for some days, and then
marrying them according to the manner of our church. His
next business was to baptise the king’s eldest son, and after him,
successively, the whole court, which consisted of about 300 per-
sons. In a word, within the space of a year that he lived there
he had baptised upwards of 12,000 people. At last this zealous
missioner, finding himself oppressed by a grievous indisposition
and believing that he should not live long, sent for our lay
Brother Leonard, who coming not long after to him, the pious

* One hundred and sixty-seven years later than in Congo, and there-
fore at the time of the breaking up of the Portuguese power by the
Dutch, who are referred to by the missionaries as ‘‘the Heretics.”

XXIV

INTRODUCTION.

father died the same morning that he arrived, well provided, as
we may imagine, of merits for another world.

u The good king hearing this, and being desirous to keep up
what he had so happily begun, sent Brother Leonard to the
aforesaid Superior (Father Joao Maria de Pavia in Angola) to
acquaint him with Ungaro’s death and to desire him to speedily
send another missioner ; but, however, these his good intentions
were afterwards disappointed by a rebellion raised against him
by a kinsman, who, being ambitious of his crown, and having
been assisted by some apostate Catholics, deprived the good king
of his life. The tyrant and usurper that dispossessed him lived
not long after to enjoy his ill-gotten throne, but was snatched
away from it by a sudden death. This wicked person being
dead, another king arose, who, though he did all he could by
the help of one Capuchin, to promote what had been begun by
Father Ungaro, yet was not able to bring his intentions about,
and that for want of more missioners, wherefore the kingdom
remains at present, as formerly, buried in idolatry. In my time
were several attempts made to recover our interest there, though
to no purpose. ...» I never heard there was any Christian
prince in the kingdom of Angoij (Cabinda) , that country having
been always inhabited by a sort of people extremely given to
sorcery and magic.” *

There is yet another passage in Merolla’s very wise and
very charming work that has an especial bearing on the subjects
treated of in this book of Mr. Dennett's. The holy Father gives
a long list of “ the abuses * existing in his time among the

* A Voyage to Congo , by Father Jerome Merolla da Sorrento, 1682.
Churchill Collection, vol. i.

INTRODUCTION.

XXV

natives of Kongo. This list has a double interest. It shows
us how acute a mind he had, how clearly he saw the things that
were fundamental to the form of religion he battled against ; but
it has a great interest to an ethnologist apart from this, as it
gives us a clearer insight into native custom than has been given
us by any subsequent traveller in that region, and moreover
because there is not one custom that the holy Father classes as “an
abuse ” that does not exist to-day with the same force as in the
seventeenth century. I will only detain you now with Merolla’s
description of “ The seventh abuse,” that of prohibited foods, for
you will often in this book come across references by Mr.
Dennett to the Kazila.

u Seventhly, it is the custom that either the parents or the
wizards give certain rules to be inviolably observed by the
young people, and which they call Chegilla. These were to abstain
from eating either some sorts of poultry, the flesh of some
kinds of wild beasts, such and such fruits ; roots either raw or
boiled after this or another manner, with several other ridiculous
injunctions of the like nature, too many to be enumerated here.
You would wonder with what religious observance these in-
junctions were obeyed. These young people would sooner chuse
to fast several days together than to taste the least bit of what
has been forbidden them ; and if it sometime happen that the
Chegilla has been neglected to have been given them by their
parents, they think they shall presently die unless they go to
receive it from the wizards. A certain young Negro being
upon a journey lodged in a friend’s house by the way; his
friend, before he went out the next morning, had got a wild
hen ready for his breakfast, they being much better than tame

XXVI

INTRODUCTION.

ones. The Negro hereupon demanded, * If it were a wild hen ?’
His host answered, ‘ No.’ Then he fell on heartily and after-
wards proceeded on his journey. After four years these two
met together again, and the aforesaid Negro being not yet
married, his old friend asked him, ‘ If he would eat a wild
hen,’ to which he answered, * That he had received his
Chegilla and could not’ Hereat the host began immediately
to laugh, inquiring of him, ‘ What made him refuse it now,
when he had eaten one at his table about four years ago ? ’ At
the hearing of this the Negro immediately fell a trembling, and
suffered himself to be so far possessed with the effects of imagina-
tion, that he died in less than twenty-four hours after.” *

The subject of these prohibitions regarding either some
particular form of food, or some particular manner of eating any
form of food, is a very interesting one.

You will find in West Africa, under all the various schools of
fetish thought, among both Negro and Bantu, that every indi-
vidual, slave or free, so long as he is not under either
European or Mahommedan influence, has a law that there is
some one thing that he individually may not do. Among the
Calabar people it is called Ibet, which signifies a command, a
law, an abstinence. Among the Gaboon people it is called
Orunda, which Dr. Nassau informs me signifies a prohibition.
Among the Fjorts it is called Kecheela or Chegilla. But under
whatever name you meet it, it is in itself always the same in its
essential character, for it is always a prohibition regarding
food.

* A Voyage to Congo, by Father Jerome Merolla da Sorrento, 1682.
Churchill Collection , vol. i. p. 237.

INTRODUCTION.

XXV11

When I was in West Africa in daily contact with this custom
and the inconveniences it presents, like any prohibition custom,
to every-day affairs, I endeavoured to collect information re-
garding it. At first I thought it might be connected with the
totemism I had read of ; but I abandoned this view, finding no
evidence to support it, and much that went against it.

Sometimes I found that one prohibition would be common to
a whole family regarding some particular form of food ; but
the individual members of that family had each an individual
prohibition apart from the family one. Moreover, there was
always a story to account for the whole family abstaining from
eating some particular animal. That animal had always afforded
signal help to the family, or its representative, at some crisis in
life. I never came across, as I expected to, a story of the
family having descended from the animal in question, nor for
the matter of that any animal whatsoever ; and these stories
regarding the help received from animals which caused the
family in gratitude to avoid killing them were always told
voluntarily and openly. There was not the touch of secrecy
and mystery that lurks round the reason of the Ibet or Orunda.
Therefore I rather doubt whether these prohibitions common to
an entire family are identical with the true Orunda, Ibet, or
Kecheela.

Mr. Dennett in his chapter on The Folklore of the Fjort ,
evidently referring to this eating of his Kecheela, says that u so
long as he knows nothing about it, the Fjort may eat out of
unclean pots, but if he knows that anything unclean has been
cooked in the pot in which his food has been prepared, and he
eats thereof, lie will be punished by some great sickness coming
over him, or by death.”

XXV111

INTRODUCTION.

I am unable, from my own experience, to agree with this
statement that ignorance would save the man who had eaten his
prohibited food. From what I know, Merolla's story as cited
above is the correct thing : the man, though he eat in ignor-
ance, dies or suffers severely.

It is true that one of the doctrines of African human law is
that the person who offends in ignorance, that is not a culpable
ignorance, cannot be punished ; but this merciful dictum I have
never found in spirit-law. Therein if you offend, you suffer ;
unless you can appease the enraged spirit, neither ignorance nor
intoxication is a feasible plea in extenuation. Therefore I
think that Mr. Dennett’s informant in this case must have been
a man of lax religious principles ; and in Merolla’s story I feel
nearly certain that the man who gives his friend his Chegilla
to eat must have been one of the holy Father’s converts, engaged
in trying to break down the superstition of his fellow-country-
man. Had he been a believer in Chegilla himself, he would
have known that the outraged spirit of the Chegilla would have
visited its wrath on him, as well as on his friend, with a fine
impartiality and horrible consequences.

The inevitableness of spirit-vengeance, unless suitable sacri-
fices are made, seems to me also demonstrated in another way.
Poisoning is a thing much dreaded in West Africa; practically
it is a dread that overshadows every man’s life there. I per-
sonally doubt whether white people are poisoned so frequently as
is currently supposed in West Africa. But undoubtedly it is prac-
tised among the natives ; and the thing that holds it in reasonable
check is the virulence of the attack made on the poisoner, or, as
the poisoner is currently called, the witch. Briefly, poisoning
is the most common form of witchcraft in West Africa. The

INTRODUCTION.

XXIX

witch has other methods of destroying the victims — catching their
souls, witching young crocodiles, &c., into them — but poisoning
is the sheet-anchor, and is regarded on the same lines as soul-
theft, &c. Now there is one form of poisoning which is regarded
among all the various tribes I know as a particularly vile one ;
and that is giving a person a prohibited food. For example,
to give a man, whose Orunda is boiled chicken, a mess containing
boiled chicken, or to boil a chicken and take it from the pot and
then cook his meal in the pot, is equivalent to giving him so
much prussic acid or strychnine. But in spite of its efficacy in
destroying an enemy, this giving of the prohibited food is re-
garded as a very rare form of the crime of poisoning, because
of the great danger to himself the giver would incur from the
wrath of the spirit to whom the prohibited food belonged. The
great iniquity of this form of the crime of poisoning, I believe,
lies in its injuring, in some way, the soul of the victim after
death.

Mr. Dennett, moreover, in the passage I have quoted uses the
word “ unclean.” He does this from his habit of using scriptural
phraseology ; but I entirely disapprove of the use of the word
“ unclean ” in connection with these Ibet. Orunda or Kecheela
matters should suggest the word consecrated, or sacrificed, to be
substituted. The West African has a whole series of things he
abstains from doing, or from touching, because he believes them
truly to be unclean. For example, he regards the drinking of
milk from animals as a filthy practice, and also the eating of
eggs ; and he will ask why you use these forms of animal excreta
and avoid the others. And there are several other things besides
that he regards as loathsome in themselves. But there is nothing
loathsome or unclean in things connected with this prohibited

XXX

INTRODUCTION.

food. There are, I believe, and I think I may say Dr. Nassau
would support me in this view, things that a man dedicates for the
whole of his natural life to the use of his individual attendant
guardian spirit.

This Roman Catholic influence over the Fjort may, I think, be
taken as having been an evanescent one. I do not say, as the Rev.
J. Leighton Wilson does, that this is so, because Roman Catho-
licism is an unfit means of converting Africans ; but it suffered
the common fate that has so far overtaken all kinds of attempts
to Europeanise the African. It is like cutting a path in one of
their native forests. You may make it a very nice path — a
clean, tidy, and good one — but if you leave it, it grows over
again, and in a few seasons is almost indistinguishable from the
surrounding bush. The path the Roman Catholics made was
one intended to lead the African to Heaven. At first, the African
thought it was to lead him to earthly power and glory and
riches. During the ascendancy of the Portuguese in the region
it did this ; but when their power was crippled, it did not. There-
fore the African “ let it go for bush” ; and it is his blame, not
the missionary’s, that the Fjort to-day is found by Europeans in
a state of culture lower than many African tribes, and with a
religion as dependent u on conversing with the Devil ” as ever —
in short, a very interesting person to the folklorist.

The mind of the African has a wonderful power of assimi-
lating other forms of belief apart from fetish; and when he has
had a foreign idea put into his mind it remains there, gradually
taking on to itself a fetish form ; for the fetish idea overmasters
it, so long as the foreign idea is left without reinforcements,
and it becomes a sort of fossil. The teachings of the Roman
Catholic missionaries are now in this fossil state in the mind of

INTRODUCTION.

XXXI

the Fjort. Ardent ethnologists may wish that they had never
heen introduced ; but it is well to remember that their religion
was not the only thing introduced into the region by them, for
the Fjort of to-day owes almost all his food supply to them : the
maize, the mango, the banana, and most likely the manioc.
Nevertheless the high intelligence of the Fjort, as evidenced by
their having, before coming into contact with Europeans, an
organised state of society, a definitely thought-out religion,
and an art superior to that of all other Bantu West Coast tribes,
makes them a tribe that the student of the African cannot
afford to ignore, because the study of them entails a little
trouble and a knowledge of the doctrine taught by the Roman
Catholic Church.

MARY H. KINGSLEY.

Mr. Dennett on reading the proofs of the foregoing introduc-
tion, and in response to an invitation from me for any sugges-
tions, sent a number of notes. I select from these for insertion
here such as relate to historical and ethnological questions ; the
rest will be more appropriately placed in Appendix I.

p. xix. “ Miss Kingsley mentions a lost part of the Loango
race (Bavili) in the Ogowe, and calls them Ivili (singular).
Vila is to lose, in Fjort. Thus, the Bavili were the lost men,
lost in their journey northward.”

p. xx. u The only Fumu was Kongo, king of the united
provinces. He sent his sons under the title of Mafumu to rule
these provinces. They in their turn divided their lands among
their children under the title of Tekklifumu. To-day, Fumu has
come to mean chief, head of a family; it really means Judge.

XXX11

INTRODUCTION.

The son in Manifumu, the grandson, Tekklifumu. Ma is short
for Mani (son of) ; so that MaKongo simply meant son of
Kongo ; and it is a proof that MaKongo always recognised his
secondary position, just as MaLoango does today. KaCongo
should probably be written Kaci Kongo, which would give the
sense of Middle Kongo.

“ Ngoio was the name of the great Rain-doctor sent with Ma-
Kongo and MaLoango, by Fumu Kongo ; and he gave his name
to the province he took possession of, like MaKongo and Ma-
Loango did ; and not only to the province, but to the chieftain-
ship of it. Strange to say, to this day Ncanlam, the chief of the
Musurongo, has the right to take the cap ( succeed to the chief-
tainship of the province Ngoio) ; but as Ngoio (the chief of
this province) is always killed the day after he takes the cap,
the throne remains vacant ” — i.e. no one likes to lose his life
for a few hours’ glory on the Ngoio throne.

The italics are mine.

M. H. K.

NOTES ON THE EOLKLOKE OF THE FJORT.

THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

By the Fjort I mean the tribes that once formed the great
kingdom of Congo. From the Qnillo river, north of Loango,
to the River Loge, south of Kinsembo, on the south-west coast
of Africa, and as far almost as Stanley Pool in the interior, this
kingdom is said to have extended. My remarks refer chiefly to
the KaCongo and Loango provinces : that is to say, to the two
coast provinces north of the great river Congo or Zaire.

The religion or superstition of the Fjort, as well as their
laws, can easily be traced to their source, namely, to San Sal-
vador, the headquarters or capital of the great Fumu Kongo.
Their legends describe how Fumu Kongo sent his sons Ka-
Congo and Loango to govern these provinces ; and their route
can be traced by their having left what you call fetishes at each
place where they slept.* These fetishes are called Nkissi nsi,
the spirit or mystery of the earth, just as the ruler or nFumu

* See my Seven Years among the Fjort. London, 1887, p. 50, sqq.

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

is called Fumu nsi, the prince of the land or earth. Together
with these two sons of Kongo (called Muene nFumu, or, as we
should write it, Manifumu ), the king sent a priest or rain-
doctor, called Ngoio. Even to this day, when the rains do
not come in their proper season, the princes of KaCongo and
Loango send ambassadors to Cabinda or Ngoio with presents
to the rain-doctor, or, as they call him, Nganga.

Loango, KaCongo, and Ngoio are now all spoken of as
nFumu nsi ; and their existence is admitted, although, as a
matter of fact, their thrones are vacant, and each petty prince,
or head of a family, governs his own little town or towns.
Each little town or collection of towns, or better perhaps each
family, has now its patch of ground sacred to the spirit of the
earth (Nkissi nsi),* its Nganga nsi, the head of the family, and
its Nganga Nkissi (charm or fetish doctor), and its Nganga bi-
longo (medicine-doctor or surgeon). Nzambi-Mpungu is what
we should call the Creator. Nzambi (wrongly called God) is
Mother Earth, literally Terrible Earth. In all the Fjort legends
that treat of Nzambi she is spoken of as the u mother,” gener-
ally of a beautiful daughter, or as a great princess calling all
the animals about her to some great meeting, or palaver ; or as
a poor woman carrying a thirsty or hungry infant on her back,
begging for food, who then reveals herself and punishes those

* Thus the voyage of Kongo’s sons KaCongo and Loango from San
Salvador to Loango is marked for us ; for where they rested the ground
became blessed (Nkissiansi, land sacred to the spiritual law family Fetish).
There are no altars made with hands, no images among the Kkissiansi.
Sometimes one meets with a stone, a mound of earth, a tree, a mound
of shells, on this holy ground, and I have met with huts containing the
family fetishes

THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

who refused her drink or food by drowning them,* or by re-
warding with great and rich presents those who have given her
child drink. Animals and people refer their palavers to her
as judge. Her name also is used as an ejaculation.

Nkissi nsi is the mysterious spirit that dwells in the earth.
Nkissi is the mysterious power in herbs, medicines, fetishes.

The missionary is called a Nganga Nzambi. This alone proves,
I think, that the natives consider Nzambi, the earth, as their
deity; and when once the missionaries are convinced of this
fact it should be their duty to protest against the use of the
word Nzambi as the equivalent to the white man’s God. The
word they must use is Nzambi Mpungu, or perhaps they had
better make a new word. Mpungu, or mpoungou, is the word
used by the Fjort to mean gorilla. This should delight the
heart of the evolutionist. But mpounga has the signification of
something that covers . There are, however, no gorillas south
of the Congo, and in the Ntandu dialect mpoungou has the
signification of creator or father. And we must remember that
this religion came from the south of the Congo.

Upon the sacred earth in each village or family a small hut
or shimbec is usually built, where the family fetish is kept. A
tree is also usually planted there, and holes are made in it,
where medicines are placed. Each hole is then covered by a
piece of looking glass, which is kept in its place by a rim of clay,
which again is spluttered over with white and red earth or
chalk, moistened in the mouth of the prince. Here the prince
summons his family to what they call a u washing-up.” That
is, after having made their offerings (generally of white fowls)

See below, p. 121.
B 2

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

the people cut the grass and clean up the sacred ground and
dance and sing. The prince also on certain occasions admits
the young men who have been circumcised to the rights of
manhood, and teaches them the secret words which act as pass-
words throughout the tribe. The prince is crowned here ; and
it is this fetish that he consults whenever he is in trouble.

The Nganga Nkissi has his hut apart from his holy ground ;
and there he keeps his image, into which nails, spear-points,
knives, etc., are driven by the suppliant who seeks the help of
the mysterious spirit to kill his enemies or to protect him
against any evil. The Nganga Nkissi also sells charms, such
as little wooden images charged with medicines, bracelets,
armlets, head-bands, waistbands, little bits of tiger's skin to
keep the small-pox away, the little horns of kids, and other
pendants for the necklace.

The Nganga bilongo is the doctor and surgeon. Each
surgeon or doctor keeps the secret of his cure in the family, so
that the sick have sometimes to travel great distances to be
cured of certain diseases. After most sicknesses or misfortunes
the native undergoes a kind of thanksgiving and purification
according to the rites of Bingo, who has a Nganga in almost
every family. This is not the same as the form of going
through the “ paint-house.”

The Nkissi, the spirit, as it were, of mother earth, is met
with in mountains and rocks. Thus, in the creek that flows
behind Ponta da Lenha in the Biver Congo there is a rock
falling straight down into the water, which the natives fear to
pass at night ; and even in the daytime they keep close to the
far side of the creek. They declare that the Nkissi will swallow
them up. The story of the four young men who left their

THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

town early in the morning to visit their lovers across the
mountains, and after a long visit at about four o’clock wished to
return, proves the power of the terrible spirit of the earth.
For their lovers determined to see the four young men part of
the way home, and so went with them up the mountain. Then
the young men saw the young women back to their town. The
young women again went up the hill with their lovers, and
again the young men came back with them. The earth-spirit
got vexed at such levity and turned them all into pillars of clay,
as can be proved, for are not the eight pillars visible to this day
(white-ant pillars taking the shape of four men and four women) ?
And the lying woman who said she had no peas for sale when
she had her basket full of them, did not the earth-spirit turn
her into a pillar of clay, as can be seen in the woods near
Cabinda behind Futilla even to this day ?

The mountain Mongo is spoken of at times as a person,
as in the story of the old lady who, after many exchanges,
secured a drum in exchange for the red wood she had given the
image-maker, to keep for her. For the old lady took this
drum to Mongo and played upon it until Mongo broke it. But
she wept and Mongo was sorry for her and gave her some
mushrooms and told her to go away.

Islands in the River Congo are spoken of as the home of the
men who turn themselves into crocodiles, so that they may
upset canoes and drag their prisoners to them and eventually
sell them. Monkey Island, just above Boma, in the River
Congo, is used as the burial-place of princes of that part of the
country.

The names of the rivers are also the names of the spirits of
the same. These spirits, like those of the Chimpanzu and

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

Mlomvu, kill those who drink their waters ; others get angry,
and swell, and overflow their banks like the Lulondo, and
drown many people ; while some punish those who fish
in their waters for greediness by causing them to become
deaf and dumb, as Sunga did in one of the stories I have
given on a subsequent page.

Then the great Chamma (rainbow) is described as a huge
snake that enters rivers at their source and swells them up, and
carries everything before it, grass, trees, at times whole villages,
in its way to the sea.

Any place, either in the hills or along the banks of rivers
(near fishing places), or near wells, can be reserved by any one
by his placing shells, strips of cloth, or other charms there.
The nearest approach that we have to these charms in England
is the scarecrow, or the hat which the Member of Parliament
leaves on his seat to show that the place is his.

The dead bodies of witches are either thrown down precipices
or into the rivers.

The sun, Ntangu, and moon, Ngonde, are generally described
as two brothers. There is a legend which tells us that two
brothers, Ntangu and Ngonde, lived in a village by the sea ;
and Ntangu bet Ngonde that he could not catch him up, so they
set off racing. Ngonde caught up Ntangu ; and then Ntangu
got vexed and said he could catch up Ngonde, but he never
did, so Ngonde won the bet. The fact of the moon’s being seen
during the day, together with the sun, and the sun’s never
being seen at night in company with the moon has, no doubt,
given rise to this story. I have also collected two versions of a
story of two brothers setting out, one after the other, to the
land whence no man returns, which also are sun-myths.

THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

I have heard very little about the stars. The new moon is
greeted with a cry of 66 Lu lu lu lu,” in a high key, the native
beating his mouth with his hand as he cries.

Lightning is said to be made by a blacksmith (Funzi) who
lives in the centre of KaCongo. Nzassi means thunder; Lu
siemo, lightning; and they are both spoken of as persons, Nzassi
being used often for both thunder and lightning. Thus, they
say that if it comes on to rain when you are in the woods, and
it thunders, and you try to run away, Nzassi runs after you and
kills you.

A man named Antonio one day told me a story of how he had
seen Nzassi’s dogs. It was raining, he declared ; and he and his
companions were under a shed playing at marbles when it began
to thunder and lighten. It thundered frightfully ; and Nzassi
sent his twenty-four dogs down upon them. They seized one of
the party who had left the shed for a moment, and the fire burnt
up a living palm tree.

The sky is spoken of in certain stories as something to be
bored through, as in the story where Nzambi on earth promises
her beautiful daughter in marriage to anyone who should go to
Nzambi above, and bring down a little of Nzambi Mpungu’s
fire from heaven. The woodpecker bores the hole through which
all those anxious to compete for Nzambi’ s daughter’s hand creep,
after having climbed up the silken cord made by the spider from
heaven to earth.*

The clouds they call Ituti, or rather Matuti (ph), They rise
from where the walls of heaven touch the earth, and sail across
the sky to the other side, or round and round about.

The story is given at length on p. 74.

8 NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

The Fjort divide the year into two seasons : i muna ki mvula
(rainy season), i muna ki sifu (dry season). They divide
the month (ngonde) into seven weeks of four days ; Tono, Silu,
Nkandu, Nsona, on the last of which they do no work.

The sea is known as Mbu. The sun rises in the Mayomba
bush-country, and sets in the Mbu.

Before going to sea, the fishermen knock their fetishes to bring
them good luck, or to kill those who spoil their luck. If a
fisherman goes to sleep, and while he sleeps the little black bird
called ntieti comes and rests in the stern of his canoe, and
in the morning he awakes and finds it there, he knows some
misfortune has come upon his family, or is to come upon him-
self.

The spirit that dwells in the sea is called Chicamassi-chibuinji.
At times she comes ashore to collect red-wood and other neces-
sary articles of toilet. Now, when anyone steals some of these
articles she gets vexed and causes a calemma (swell) to arise,
which stops all fishing and at times causes loss of life to those
passing through the surf.

Waterspouts they call Nvussuko and Ngo-lo ; and they fear
them as we should a ghost.

They say that they do not make sacrifices to the sea; but that
when Chicamassi is vexed she comes ashore and takes one of
twins or triplets, and drowns it in the sea. It is well to save a
relation from drowning; and if you like to save a stranger’s
life, he becomes your slave, or gives you a slave in exchange.
When the native passes certain places where Chicamassi is
supposed to have passed, he throws bits of fish, mandioca, or
whatnot, into the sea for her. They also splutter rum into the
sea before drinking it.

THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

The tides are caused by Nzambi Mpungu, who, when the
time comes, drops a large stone into the ocean to make the
water rise, and takes it out again when it is time for low
tide.

Zimini has towns under the sand in the sea ; and at times he
comes up and seizes a man or woman, and takes him or her down
to his place. There are stories in which the white man is said
to have his town under the sea, and to take thither all the
slaves he captures and buys to help him to make his cloth.

Woods and forests are the homes of the Mpunia (highway
robber and murderer), Ndotchi (witch), and Chimbindi (spirit of
the departed).

The Nkissi that exists in herbs, plants, and trees, poisons or
cures people ; and the natives have a great knowledge of the
different properties of plants, herbs, and trees. The Nkissi
grows with the plant out of the earth.

Fetishes are made of a wood called Mlimbe; and it is said
that when the tree is felled the blood that flows from the tree
is mixed with the blood of a cock that the Nganga kills. This
cock used to be a slave, when slaves were cheaper than they are
now.

Grasses are worn as charms around the neck or body of a
sick man.

The greater number of natives are called after animals. Ngo,
the leopard ; Nkossa, the lobster ; Chingumba, lion ; Nzau,
elephant ; Memvu, a kind of wild dog ; are the names given
those of royal blood ; and the greatest of these names is that
of Ngo. Only princes can wear a leopard’s skin. The Leo-
pard, the royal animal, the figure of royal motherhood (the
earth, as opposed to Nkala, the crab, the figure of the sea),

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

is the name given to women through whom the royal line may
descend, Kongo being the name of the Fjort’s Adam, the great
and first King or Nfumu (judge), the father of KaCongo and
Loango and Ngoio. And many customs touching the hunting
and slaying of the Leopard still exist, and in themselves would
form an interesting study. Its skin is still worn as a sign of
Royalty, and its hair is used as a charm against small pox : thirty
skins used to be sent from Loango to Ngoio, so that he might
send Mbunzi with rain to water his plantations.

In listening to their many stories about animals, one forgets for
the time that the relator is talking about animals; and when it
comes to where one eats the other, one wonders whether the
native forgets that his ancestors did act in this outrageous
fashion. The Fjort believe that some people have the power, or
misfortune, to change themselves into beasts of prey, such as
leopards and crocodiles. Stories of quite recent date tell of
relations who have suffered in this way, and who in their better
moods have admitted that they have killed so and so, and torn
him to pieces.

This brings us to another interesting subject, that of the
kazilas, or things forbidden. Some families, especially those
of royal descent, may not eat pig ; others may not touch goat,
flat-fish, shell-fish, doves. None except witches would attempt
to eat snakes, crocodiles, lizards, chamelions. Many families
will not touch certain animals because their ancestors owe such
animals a debt of gratitude, as many of their stories point out
to us.*

* Another kind of kazila, or taboo, is mentioned below (p. 122),
namely, the prohibition to women to fish in the lake Mbosi or Mboasi,
near Futilla.

THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

The native herd in the white trader’s employ talks to his
sheep and goats as if they certainly understood him.

The plagues were sent by God (so the Hebrews say) to punish
the oppressors of the children of Israel : so also any great
scourge in this part of Africa is looked upon as a punishment.
The locusts are at this moment eating up the Fjort’s plantations
here in Loango. The locusts are known by the name of Makonko,
and are not entire strangers ; but this year (1896-97) is the first
time that the Fjort have seen them in such abundance. They
do not know what to do to get rid of them ; they say that their
princes in the olden days woidd have done something and sent
them away in a day.

A French official cut the long beard of poor old Maniprato,
who was acting in the place of the King of Loango. The Fetish,
who is the nephew of the great Mbunzi (S.W. wind), was
very much annoyed at this action of the French official, and sent
word to Mbunzi, and Mbunzi sent the plague of locusts, which
in one night ate up the large banana plantation of the French
mission. And now they are eating up the Fjort’s plantations
and his palm trees, and the poor Fjort has no longer any princes
to send presents to Ngoio to calm the angry Mbunzi.

Bimbindi (pi. of Chimbindi) , the spirits of the good who have
departed this life, live in the woods, and are generally considered
the enemies of mankind. But I knew a Chimbindi who was a
very decent woman indeed. She was in love, and about to be
married ; but she fell sick, died, and was buried. Her lover was
accused of having bewitched her, and he took casca and died.
Her parents grieved greatly for her, for she was an only child.
When she rose from the dead she found herself a slave, and mar-
ried to a white man in Boma, She lived there with him until he

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

went to Europe, when he freed her. She then tried to get back to
her native town, which lay behind Malella. So she hired a canoe,
and got the owners thereof to promise to paddle her there. But
they took her to the south bank of the Congo, and sold her.
Here she remained nearly three years, when she happened to
meet some people of her own family, and they took her back to
her parents. The parents were rejoiced to see her again ; but
they will not believe that she is a human being, and continue to
treat her as the departed spirit of their daughter. I have tried
to convince her that the Nganga Nkissi, or native doctor, must
have played her some trick, and that she had been buried by
him while in a trance, or while unconscious, and that he must
have taken her to Bom a and sold her there to his own profit ;
but she would not believe it.

But Bimbindi as a rule are hostile to the human race, and
consequently greatly feared.

A certain chief owned a large town, and all the inhabitants
were either his children or his relations. He was sorely
troubled at times how to provide them all with animal food ;
and so he used to go into the woods, and set traps. One night
he got up, and went to see if there was anything in his traps ;
and sure enough there was a large antelope in one of the traps.
He made short work of its life by drawing his long knife and
cutting its throat. Then he carried it home, and called upon all
to get up and eat. They rejoiced greatly, and got up quickly
enough to skin and cut up the antelope. It was then fairly
divided, and each took away his share. And they all ate their
shares, except the father, who put his away. Before the first
cock crew, he got up again to look at his traps. Yes, there was
another antelope. He killed and took it to his town, and again

THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

roused the people up. They came, and again each took his
share. And they all ate their shares, except the father, who
put his share in the same place where he had kept his first share.
He now slept until sun-rise. About midday his son came to
him and said: “ Father, I am hungry. Give me the antelope
you have kept in your shimbec (hut).” “No,” he answered,

“ I wish to sell that meat for cloth, even if I only get a fathom
or two for it.” But the son pestered and bothered his father
until he waxed wroth and shot him dead. Then the father
called his people again, and said : 66 See, here is more meat for
you, take it and eat it.” “ Nay,” they all said, “ we cannot
eat this ; for your son was one of us ; he is of our family. But
we will cut him up, and give the meat to the princes round
about.” And the princes were thankful for the meat, and gave
the bearers presents.

The next evening the father again went to visit his traps,
and thought he saw a huge something in one of them. He
ran up to the thing and tried to kill it ; but as he neared the
trap, the monster’s arms embraced him and held him fast.
“ Ah, ha ! ” said the Chimbindi, “ so you have dared to set
your traps in my woods, and to kill my antelopes. You shall
die.” With this the Chimbindi cut the father’s head off, and
hung his body to a tree by its feet. Now when his wife had
cooked his food, she called for him to come and eat. Receiving
no answer, she set out to look for him. “ Surely he has gone
to look at his traps,” she thought. So she went into the woods;
and after a little while she caught sight of the body hanging by
its legs to the tree. The head was not there ; the Chimbindi
had taken it away with him. She examined the body carefully,
and at last convinced herself that it was that of her husband.

14 NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE F.TORT.

She sat down and wept. Then she got up, and went crying
into the town. The people asked her what she was crying for,
and she answered : u My husband has been killed, and I have
seen his body in the woods.” Then they tried to comfort her,
telling her that she was mistaken. But she continued weeping,
and offered to lead them to the place where he was hung.
Then the whole tribe went with her ; and when they saw with
their own eyes that their father was dead, they were sorely
troubled and lamented. Then the Chimbindi returned, and
utterly annihilated the tribe, cutting off their heads, and leaving
their bodies as food for the eagles, and the crows, and the beasts
of the woods that eat the flesh of men. So are those punished
who kill a relation and offer his meat to be eaten.

But the natives have a weapon with which they can put the
Chimbindi to flight, as we learn from the following story.

All preparations for a long stay out of town were made by a
married couple, the parents of a little boy some four years old.
As they could not take their little one with them on this occasion,
they left sufficient food for him with a neighbour, and asked her
to take care of him. Soon the little boy felt hungry, and ran to
the neighbour’s house and asked her for food. u What food, my
child ? ” she asked. “ But mother told me to come and ask you
for food whenever I felt hungry.” u Your mother left no food
with me, so that I cannot give you any ; and you can run away
and play.” Each day the little boy went to the woman and
asked her for food. But each day she refused to give him any.'
So on the sixth day the little boy sat down and cried, saying :
66 Six days have passed and I have had no food. I know not
whither my parents have gone. I shall surely die. I will find
them, I will go from here at once.” Then he got up and walked

THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

and walked all day, but could not find his parents. When the
night came, he climbed up a big tree and sat in it and cried.
And a Chimbindi came and found the boy. He called his
friends together, and they asked: <c Who is this? ” The little
boy was very much afraid ; but he sang in a piteous voice :
u My father and mother left me, they gave another food for me;
but she did not give it to me ; and now I have come here to
die.” The Bimbindi came near to him and meant to kill him.
When the little boy saw what the Bimbindi v^ere about he cried
bitterly for his mother.

Meanwhile the parents returned. The mother said : u Father,
our little one has left our town, and has wandered away.
Listen! I hear him crying.” 66 Nay,” says the father, “ we
left food enough for him, why should he have left the town?
Look again for him.” u No,” says the mother; u he is in the
woods, and the Bimbindi will surely eat him, and we shall
lose our little one.” Then the father went to the market and
bought some chili pepper, and loaded his gun with it. And the
mother carried a calabash of pepper with her. u Let us go,”
said the father, u and search for him ! ” And the mother soon
found him, attracted by his cries. Then the father shot the
Chimbindi just as he was climbing up the tree to kill his son.
And the mother flew at the others that were looking on, and
rubbed pepper into their eyes, so that they all ran away.

When the .parents returned to the town they demanded an
explanation from their neighbour ; but she could make no excuse
for her conduct, so that the irate father shot the woman, saying:
66 You tried to kill my child, am I not right in killing you? ”

And the people said he was acting rightly.

Women have been captured by Bimbindi and made to live

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

with them, according to their tales, but have managed to escape.
The Bimbindi have followed them to their towns, and to get
rid of them these women have thrown pepper into their eyes,
and poured boiling water over them.

I have also heard of an opposite case, where a Chimbindi has
come to a town and married a girl and tried to live with her, but
he would run away at daybreak, and all night he was busy
eating insects and lizards; so she left him. Native women dare
not go out at night alone for fear of meeting them ; and any
wailing noise they hear during the night they immediately put
down to the Bimbindi.

The word witch , in our sense, I think, would correspond
rather with that of Nganga Nkissi, the man learned in the art
of mystery. But whereas our witch combines the office of
spell-binder with that of curer, the Nganga Nkissi acts as the
curer only, and the power that he exercises is not supposed
to be his, but rather that of the Nkissi, or, as you would call
it, his fetish. The sufferer goes to him to find out why it is
that he suffers, and who it is that is making him suffer, and
he divines the cause or person if he can ; and if he cannot,
advises the sufferer to knock a nail into the Nkissi, or fetish,

and ask it to kill the person who is causing him so much

pain.

The causer of the pain or suffering is called by the Fjort a
Ndotchi, which has rather the sense of poisoner, and then spell-
binder, or evil-wisher, or hypnotiser. This last personage is
usually called the witch, and the Nganga Nkissi, the witch-
doctor, by Europeans. The Ndotchi, it is true, may have
poisoned some of his people to get rid of them, but he will have

done this very secretly. He is not at all likely to go about

THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

proclaiming the fact that he can cast spells upon people, raise
storms, or hypnotise, as such a proclamation would mean certain
death. I am, therefore, sceptical when I hear Europeans
talking about African witches and witchcraft, unless indeed, you
call a poisoner a witch. It is the knowledge of poisons in the
native, his horror of death, and his disbelief in death from
natural causes, that force him to believe, when a death does take
place, that poison has in all probability caused it. Accordingly,
a so-called Ndotchi, or poisoner, is called upon to prove his
innocence by being forced to undergo the ordeal by poison ; he
is made to eat two or three spoonfuls of the powdered bark of
the 66 casca ” tree, and drink a bottle of water. If he vomits,
he is innocent ; if the casca acts as a purge he is guilty, and at
once slain, A native goes to sleep and dreams some fearful
dream, awakes and feels himself spellbound. Up he gets and
tires off a gun. to frighten away the evil spirits. He imagines
that he has an enemy who is seeking to kill him, and accuses
people right and left of attempting to poison him, and gives them
casca.

There are certain of the Ngangas who profess to work
miracles like the magicians of old.

Women give their husbands certain medicines to cause
them to love them, and try their own love for them, by
undergoing different ordeals. For instance, a woman will
bet another woman that she loves her husband more than
she does. They will heat an iron and place it on their
arms ; if a blister is raised, they consider their great love as
proved.

As you enter a village by some road or other you will often
find the grass tied into a knot ( nteuo ) with medicines enclosed, to

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

prevent anyone bent on evil from passing that way ; or an arch*
formed by a string of feathers and charms, stretched across the
road from one pole to another, will keep away evil winds and
spirits.

Then, every town has some Nkissi or other to guard it. One
will often notice an earthenware pot ( nduda ) half-full of sand,
containing two eggs, placed upon a stand. It is said that these
eggs will explode with a fearful report, if anyone bent on evil
enters the town.

The Fjort have no legends about the creation, except such
as are easily traceable to the teachings of the missionaries of old,
settled in this country some 400 years ago. Nzambi Mpungu
made the earth, or gave birth to Nzambi; and she brought forth
many children. We are told nothing more about the creation.
The difference in colour between the black and white man is
accounted for by stories of the short-sightedness of the black
man. The best, perhaps, is that given on a later page.

Then, we have tales which begin : 66 A long, long time ago,
before even our ancestors knew the use of fire, when they ate
grass like the animals,” etc., which then go on to tell how a
river-spirit first pointed out to them the mandioca root and
the banana. These I think go a long way to prove that the
agricultural age was prior to the pastoral and hunting age.
This river-spirit taught them the use of fire, and then came
the blacksmith, Mfuzi, (Loango, Funzi) and the iron and
copper age.

I do not think the people north of the Congo can yet be said to

* An ordinary knot in the grass means that some lady has marked the
place for a plantation, or that a passer-by has hidden something within a
certain distance from that knot.

A BAKUTU WHO CAVIE TO LOANGO TO SEE NZAMBI.

To face page 18.

THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

be in the Pastoral Age* or to have passed through it, for, although
they do keep a few goats, and fowls, and sheep, their attention
is given more to the planting of mandioca, bananas, and potatoes
than to the care of animals. But they certainly are hunters.
They are also manufacturers of native grass-cloth, of knives,
arms, and ornaments of iron and copper, and of ornaments made
from European silver coins. They gather cotton, and spin a
coarse kind of thread, with which they make chinkutu , arm-bags,
and netted capes for their princes. They make beautiful caps from
the fibre of the pine-apple, and mats from the leaves of the fubu-
tree. And all these goods they dye red, black and yellow.
Earthenware pots, vases, carafes, moringos, and pipes they make
from the black clay that abounds in the different valleys. The
fishermen make their own nets from the fibre of different trees,
and floats from the bark of the baobab -tree.

Others gather the palm-nuts from the palm-trees, and extract
the oil from them, dry them and crack them, and then sell the
kernels and the oil to the European. Some go into the woods
and collect the milky juice of several vines and trees, and sell it
as caoutchouc, or rubber, to the white man.

And the women, as they hoe their fields, at times dig up pieces
of preserved lightning ( aulo , or buangu , gum copal), which
they and their husbands also sell to the trader.

People collect round the shimbec, or hut, in which a woman

* There is no word in the KaCongo dialect to express the word shepherd.
The nearest they have is i lungo mbizi , he who keeps animals ; but mbizi
is used in the sense of wild animals. Thus a native missionary, or priest,
in preaching in native-mouth to the children at the mission here in
Loango talked of the shepherds who came to visit the child Christ and
his Mother as the galigneru , from the Portuguese gallinheiro, one who
looks after the fowls.

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

lies, about to give birth to a child, and fire off guns and shout
to her to help her to bring it forth. The woman is attended by
her mother, or other female relation ; and the child is washed,
sometimes in palm-wine, by them. As soon as the after-birth
comes away, the woman walks away to the place where she is to
take her hot bath. The women then throw the very hot water
upon her parts with their hands.

Charm upon charm is attached to the infant ; and the mother
suckles it until it is nearly two years old, being separated from
her husband until she has weaned the child.

When a boy arrives at the age of puberty he is circumcised,
and if he is wealthy a dance is given in his honour. A girl
arriving at the same age is closely watched. The moment of
her first menstruation is marked by the firing off of a gun, and
this is followed by a dance. And now, while she little suspects
it, she is caught and forced into what the natives call the paint-
house. Here she is painted red, and carefully fed and treated,
until they consider her ready for marriage, when she is washed
and led to her husband. But if she has not a husband waiting
for her, she is covered over with a red cloth, or handkerchief, and
taken round by women to the different towns, until someone is
found anxious to have her.

Should a man wish to marry a girl, he has to present her
parents with goods according to the value placed upon her by
them. In fixing the value, her position and wealth have to be
considered. He can marry her according to different rites, such
as those of Lembe or Funzi. On such occasions a certain kind
of native-made copper bracelet is given to her by the husband,
and worn also by him. She swears to be faithful to him, and
to die and be buried with him. Formerly these wives were

THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

buried alive with their husbands, but the custom is now dying
out.

Or a man may not have money enough to marry. So he pro-
poses to give the girl so much of his earnings if she will live
with him. He presents the parents with some small donation,
and they live together until he can marry her.

But virgins may be used by a man for a certain payment,
and afterwards put aside. These women are then at the service
of anyone who chooses to pay them. This life is not looked
upon as being immoral by them, and in no way stands in the
way of future marriage. And it is a strange fact that these
women do not seem to lose their sense of modesty. They seem
to think that it is natural that their desires should be satisfied,
and that until they are married they are in their right to live in
this way.

A man may marry as many wives as he has wealth enough
to obtain ; and as they all make their plantations he is not likely
to starve so long as he treats them properly. But the wives
quarrel for his favours, and so very often a very-much-married
man does not live so happily as one who has (say) two wives.

When the bridegroom takes his bride from the paint-house,
he is generally supposed to give a dance, and this dance is kept up
all night round about his house.

Unfaithfulness in a princess used not very long ago to be
punished by burying her into the ground up to her neck,
leaving only her head visible, and then leaving her to starve
and die. The adulterer used to be impaled and allowed to rot.

If a KaCongo princess, one of the wives of KaCongo, was
found to have crossed the River Loango Luz, a certain prince
called Maloango had the right to break off her ivory bracelet

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

and declare her a whore. The same law applied to any of the
wives of Loango who crossed over into KaCongo.

u I am in debt ” is the cry of nearly every native one meets ;
and thus he stirs himself to action. He now owes the Nganga
Nkissi for some charms, or the Nganga bilongo, for some
medicine, or else he has borrowed goods to help him to bury
some relation. Wealthy men lend people goods, such as a hoe
to a woman to bury her child. In her grief she perhaps might
bury it with the body. Then the wealthy man would ask her
for his hoe and she would have to dig it up again. The man
would say to her : “ This hoe smells of death ; keep it and pay
me for it.” The woman having nothing to pay him with, the
wealthy man would take one of her little daughters to live with
his wives. The woman might repay him at any time up to the
time when the girl should come to the age of puberty ; but once
he put the girl into the paint-house she became his 66 daughter
of the cloth,” a household slave. Men wanting money used
to go to these men and accept loans, thus becoming their
dependants.

The burden of debt seems to have been the only great motive
power in the life of the Fjort. Thus all along the coast you will
find that the traders have always been forced to lend money, or
rather goods, to native princes and traders, and then use all
their knowledge of native law to oblige them to give them the
produce promised in exchange.

When a child dies it is marked round the eyes and about the
body with white and red chalk, and is buried perhaps the next
day. The slave, or poor man, is also buried quickly without
any particular ceremony. The rich man (or woman) when
dead, is smoked dry over a smoky fire wrapped up in endless

THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

lengths of cloth according to his wealth, and after some months
is buried in an imposing case very similar to that of a prince.

A prince dies. Immediately it is known, all other princes
either go themselves with, or else send, their people dressed in
feathers, with drums and bugles, to cry. These visitors receive
unlimited drink, and dance and sing until they are tired, and
then they return to their towns. The Nganga Nkissi is set to
work to find out who it is that has caused the death of the
prince ; and many people are forced to take casca. Many
deaths, therefore, follow that of the prince.

His body is smoked and watched by his wives in the back
room (as it were), while in the front half of the shimbec the
prince’s wealth, in the shape of ewers, basins, figure ornaments,
pots, pipes, glassware, etc., is on view. One of his wives will
generally be found walking about in front of the shimbec, throw-
ing her arms about and crying. This may last for a year or
more before the body is buried.

The coffin is a case, perhaps 15 feet long, 4 feet broad, 6 feet
high, covered over with red save-lisl. White braid is nailed by
means of brass-headed chair-nails in diamond- shaped designs, all
over the red cloth. The coffin (into which the dried body,
wrapped in cloth is placed) is then put on the funeral car. Stuffed
tigers, an umbrella, and other ornaments are placed upon the
top of the coffin. The whole is then drawn to the burial ground
by hundreds of assembled guests, who sing and dance by the
way.

The grave is ready ; and the coffin is lowered into it. Then
one or two of his wives (10 years ago) jumped in, or (as is the
case to this day, a little north of Loango) two small boys are
placed in the grave beside the coffin ; and all are buried. His

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

relations proclaim the new prince, and place over his shoulder a
wreath of grass. The people then return to the prince’s town
and dance.

A year or two after this, a kind of festival in honour of the
departed is kept. An effigy in straw of the late prince is placed
in a shimbec, seated behind a table which bears such earthen-
ware, glassware, and ornaments as belonged to him, and were
not placed over his grave when he was buried. The rest of his
wives, who from the time of his death until that of his burial
have never washed themselves, have now only certain marks in
charcoal upon their faces, and walk about the place more reason-
ably. Some of his children take it in turns to beat a drum and
sing near to the shimbec. Visitors, bringing their offerings,
come and congratulate the new prince upon what we should call
his coronation ; and he receives them sitting perhaps under the
shade of some great tree. The relics of the late prince are
visited ; and then dancing, and singing, and eating, and drink-
ing commence ; and this is continued for perhaps three or four
days.

II.

HOW A NATIVE STORY IS TOLD.

Perhaps it may interest you to know how a story is told.

Imagine, then, a village in a grove of graceful palm trees.
The full moon is shining brightly upon a small crowd of Negroes
seated round a fire in an open space in the centre of the village.
One of them has just told a story, and his delighted audience
demands another. Thus he begins :

u Let us tell another story ; let us be off ! ”

All then shout : “ Pull away ! ”
u Let us be off ! ” he repeats.

And they answer again: u Pull away ! ”

Then the story teller commences :

u There were two brothers, the Smart Man and the Fool.
And it was their habit to go out shooting to keep their parents-
supplied with food. Thus one day they went together into the
mangrove swamp, just as the tide was going down, to watch for
the fish as they nibbled at the roots of the trees. The Fool saw
a fish, fired at it and killed it. The Smart Man fired also, but
at nothing, and then ran up to the Fool and said : 6 Fool, have
you killed anything ? *

u 6 Yes, Smart Man, I am a fool; but I killed a fish.’
u c Indeed, you are a fool,’ answered the Smart Man, * for
when I fired I hit the fish that went your way ; so that the fish
you think you killed is mine. Here, give it to me.’

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

u The Fool gave the Smart Man the fish. Then they went to
their town, and the Smart Man, addressing his father, said:
‘ Father, here is a fish that your son shot, but the Fool got
nothing.’ ”

Here the crowd join in, and sing over the last sentence two or
three times.

Then the narrator continues :

u The mother prepared and cooked the fish, and the father
and the Smart Man ate it, giving none to the Fool.

“ Then they went again ; and the Fool fired, and with his
first shot killed a big fish.

u 6 Did you hear me fire ? ” says the Smart Man.

u 6 No,’ answers the Fool.

u 6 No?’ returned the Smart Man; f see then the fish I killed.’

“ 6 All right,’ says the Fool. c take the fish.’

“ When they got home they gave the fish to their mother ; and
when she had cooked it, the Smart Man and his father ate it,
but gave none to the Fool. But as they were enjoying the fish,
a bone stuck in the father’s throat. Then the Smart Man called
to the Fool and bade him go for a doctor.

u c No,’ says the Fool, i I cannot. I felt that something
would happen.’ And he sings :

‘ Every day you eat my fish, you call me Fool,

And would let me starve.’ ”

The crowd here join in, and sing the Fool’s song over and
over again.

u ‘ How can you sing/ says the Smart Man, ‘ when you see
that our father is suffering ?

HOW A NATIVE STORY IS TOLD.

“ But the Fool goes on singing :

1 You eat and eat unto repletion ;

A bone sticks in your throat ;

And now your life is near completion,

The bone is still within your throat.

‘ So you, smart brother, killed the fish,

And gave the fool to eat ?

Nay ! but now he’s dead perhaps you wish
You’d given the fool to eat.’ ”

The crowd go on singing this until they are tired ; and the
story-teller continues :

“ While yet the Fool was singing, the father died. Then the
neighbours came and joined the family circle, and asked the
Fool how it was that he could go on singing now that his father
was dead.

“ And the Fool answered them, saying : ‘ Our Father made
us both, one a smart man, the other a fool. The Fool kills the
food, and they eat it, giving none to the Fool. They must not
blame him, therefore, if he sings while they suffer. He suffered
hunger while they had plenty.

“ And when the people had considered the matter, they gave
judgement in favour of the Fool, and departed.

“The father had died, and so had been justly punished for not
having given the Fool food.

“ He who eats fish with much oil must suffer from indiges-
tion.

“ And now I have finished my story.”

All answer, “ Just so ! ”

“ To-morrow may you chop palm-kernels,” says the narrator,
as he gets up and walks away.

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

A lady telling a story begins by shouting out the words:
“ Viado! Nkia? (An antelope! How big?) ”

The crowd answer: 66 Nzoka (two fathoms).”

Then the narrator begins :

a Once there was a man who had a wife, but he fell in love
with another woman. His wife was heavy with child, but he
neglected her. He used to go out fishing; but instead of
giving his wife the fish, he gave it to his lover. When he shot
an antelope he gave his wife none of it. If he trapped a bird
it went to the wicked woman.”

The narrator sings :

“ The poor starved wife
Brought forth a son,

She gave it life,

Poor weakly one ! ”

Then all join in this song in tones of disgust.
u The son grew up and complained to his mother that while
he had eaten of the produce of her farm he had not yet eaten
any food killed by his father, nor even worn a cloth given by
him.

u One day a friend gave him a knife, and he immediately,
unknown to his mother, went to the woods and hills to cut some
muchinga, or native string. He tried to kill some game by
throwing his knife at it, but to no purpose. So before he left
for home he set a trap to catch some bird or other. He grieved
at his bad luck.

u Next morning he went out again, and to his intense relief
found a guinea-fowl in his trap. He ran away home with his
prize, and, while yet afar off, shouted to his mother :

HOW A NATIVE STORY IS TOLD.

u 6 Mother, get the fundi (tapioca) ready ! 3
t: Fundi! my son. How is this? You return too early for
meal-time and call for fundi. Your father has taken no notice
of me and has brought me no food : whence then, my son, hast
thou got food for me to cook ? ’

u 6 Never you mind, mother, get the fundi ready.’
u The mother prepared the fundi, and the son laid the bird at
her feet. When she saw that her son could bring her food, she
no longer thought of her troubles or her husband. When the
food was ready, the mother called her son and named him Zinga
(to continue to live), for now they could eat and live without the
help of a father.

u About this time the husband had grown tired of his
concubine and sent her away, so that having no one to cook for
him, he remained in his shimbec (house) hungering.

66 When he heard that his son now went out hunting, and
had plenty of food, he sneaked out of his shimbec and clapped
his hands and begged his son to give him food.

66 He sang :

4 My son, can it be true
That you me food deny ?

Upon my knees I sue,

My son, let me not die.’ ”

All present repeat this song plaintively.
u Then the mother replied :

4 You first denied us food ;

We starved and nearly died ;

We will not give him food

Who kept that girl supplied. ’

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

u Another day, when the son had been lucky and caught a
bird, after killing and cleaning it, he said : ‘ Mother, time was

when we nearly died of hunger, but now we have plenty ; and
now that I am a man you shall need neither cloth nor food.’
u And as they were feeding, the father, very thin and weak,
crawled out of his shimbec, and cried :

‘ Oh, Zinga, my son, Zinga,

Will you let your father die ?

Oh, Kengi, my wife, Kengi,

Here starving do I lie.’ ”

All around sing this song in a supplicating tone.
u When the son heard his father crying so bitterly, he was
greatly moved, and prayed his mother to put some food upon a
plate and send it to him ; but the mother refused, saying that
he deserved none.

u Then the son wept and sang :

‘ Mother, father wronged us
When he starved us ;

Let us feed him now he asks us,

Or God may kill us. ’

“ And then he put some food upon a plate and was about to
give it to his father, when his father dropped down dead from
starvation.

“ An enquiry was held to find out how the father had come
to die ; and when the people had heard all they gave judge-
ment.

66 He did not give his wife and child food when they needed
it. They were in their right when they gave him none when
he asked for it. He died by the avenging hand of the Great
Spirit.”

HOW A NATIVE STORY IS TOLD.

I will conclude this chapter with a native tale of a practical
joker, a character who is as much en evidence in Africa, I regret
to say, as he is in other parts of the world.

There were two men who from their childhood had been fast
friends, and never were known to have quarrelled with one
another. So great was their friendship that they had made their
farms close to one another. They were divided one from the
other only by a native path.

Now there was a wicked wit in their town, who had deter-
mined, if possible, to make these chums quarrel. This man
made a coat, one side or half of which was red in colour, while
the other was blue. And he walked past these two chums as
they were busy on their farms, making enough noise to attract
their attention. Each of the chums looked up to see who it was
that was passing, and then went on with his work.

“ Ugh, say ! did you see that man ? ” said one.

“ Yes,” answered the other.
u Did you notice the bright coat he wore ? ”

“ Yes.”

u What colour should you say it was ? ”

66 Why, blue, of course.”

66 Blue, man ! why, it was a kind of red ! ”
u Nay, friend, I am sure it was blue.”

u Nonsense ! I know it was red, but ”

u Well ! you are a fool ! ”

“ A fool, how now ! we have been friends all our lives, and
now you call me a fool ! let us fight ; our friendship is at an
end.” And the quondam chums fought.

Then their women screamed and interfered, and managed to
separate them.

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

Then the wit walked quietly back, and saw the two chums
seated each in his own farm, with his elbows resting on his
knees and his head between his hands.

Then they saw through the joke and they were sorry ; and
they ordered the wit never to come that way again.

But the women cursed the wit and hoped that he would soon
die.

III.

HOW THE WIVES RESTORED THEIR HUSBAND

TO LIFE.

A certain man, named Nenpetro, had three wives, Ndoza’ntu
(the Dreamer), Songa’nzila (the Guide), and Fulla Fulla
(the Raiser of the Dead). Now Nenpetro was a great hunter ;
and one day he killed an antelope, and gave it to his three wives.
They ate it, and after a time complained of hunger. Nenpetro
went out shooting again, and killed a monkey. They ate this
also, but still complained of hunger. “ Oh,” says Nenpetro,
u nothing but an ox will satisfy you people.” So off he went
on the track of an ox. He followed the tracks for a long way,
and at last caught sight of it as it was feeding with two or three
others. He stalked it carefully, and shot it; but before he could
reload, another angry ox charged him, and killed him.

Now in town they knew nothing of all this ; but his wives
grew very hungry, and cried for him to come back to them.
Still he returned not. Then Ndoza’ntu dreamt that he had been
killed by an ox, but that he had killed an ox before he fell.

“ Come along,” said Songa’nzila ; “ I will show you the
road.”

Thus they set out, and marched up hill and down dale, through
woods and across rivers, until towards nightfall they came up to

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

the place where their husband lay dead. And now Fulla Fulla
went into the woods and collected herbs and plants, and set about
raising him from the dead.

Then the three women began to quarrel and wonder into whose
shimbec Nenpetro would first enter.

u I dreamt that he was dead,” said Ndoza’ntu.

u But I showed you where he lay dead,” said Songa’nzila.

“ And I have brought him back to life,” said Fulla Fulla, as
the husband gradually gave signs of life.

u Well ! let us each cook a pot of food, and take it to him as
soon as he can eat ; and let him decide out of which pot he will
take his first meal.”

So two killed fowls, and cooked them each in her own pot,
while the third cooked some pig in hers. And Nenpetro took
the pot of pig that Fulla Fulla had cooked, and said : u When
you dreamt that I was dead, you did not give me food, Ndoza’ntu ;
for I was not yet found. And when you, Songa’nzila, had shown
the others the road, I was still unfit to eat; but when Fulla
Fulla gave me back my life, then was I able to eat the pig she
gave me. The gift therefore of Fulla Fulla is the most to be
prized.”

And the majority of the people said he was right in his judge-
ment ; but the women round about said he should have put the
food out of the three pots into one pot, and have eaten the food
thus mixed.

IV.

HOW NSASSI* (GAZELLE) GOT MARRIED.

Nenpetro had two wives, and they each gave birth to a
beautiful daughter. As they were a rich family, they determined
not to take a present for their daughters on being asked in mar-
riage, but to give them to him who could find out their names.
They called one Lunga and the other Lenga.

The daughters grew up as beautiful as their parents could have
wished, and were now of a marriageable age. The antelope
then came to the parents, and, placing his large bundle of cloth
and valuables at their feet, asked them to give him their daugh-
ters in marriage.

u We cannot accept your generous presents, for we have
sworn to give our daughters only to the man who can guess
their names.”

The antelope scampered off and wondered how he could
possibly find out their names.

Then Nsassi, a well-known prince of a town some way off,
came along followed by his faithful dog, and asked Nenpetro for
his daughters.

“ Nay, guess their names, my son, and thou shalt have them.”

* So in the Musurongo dialect. In the Cabenda and Loango dialects
the word is Nsessi.

D 2

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

66 Well ! what do you call them ? ”
u No, I may not tell you.”

And the dog sat watching his master and heard all that was
said, and felt for him. Nsassi went away sore-hearted ; for the
daughters of Nenpetro were beautiful to behold, and he yearned
for them. So grieved was he, that he did not miss his dog, but
marched straight back to his town to devise some means by
which he might find out their names.

And now Nenpetro called his daughters to him by their
names, u Lunga ! Lenga ! come here.”

And the doer heard their names and said : u Oh I must run

off and tell my father the names of these beautiful daughters,
that he may marry them and be happy.”

And off he trotted along the road, until he was nearly dead
with hunger. Then he looked about for something to eat, and
after some trouble caught a wild kitten. When he had eaten it,
he set off again full of happiness, until he began to think over in
his mind the names of Nenpetro’s daughters. Alas ! he had
forgotten them. What was he to do ? He resolved to go back
again to Nenpetro’s town. After a weary journey, he arrived
there about midnight, and then slept until well into the next
day.

“ Oh ! Lunga and Lenga, give that little dog of Nsassi’s some
food.”

The daughters gave him food, but no water to drink ; but he
licked their hands and thanked them. Off he set again as happy
as possible, full of the importance of his mission. He met a
clear stream of water, and so overcome was he by thirst, that he
forgot his errand and drank deeply of the waters. When he
had satisfied himself, he tried to think of the names of Nenpetro’s

HOW M SASS1 (GAZELLE) GOT MARRIED. 37

daughters, but he could not. So he had to return again to
Nenpetro’s town and sleep there that night.

The next morning Nenpetro called Lunga and Lenga, and
said : “ My children, give food and drink to Nsassi’s dog.”

And the daughters gave him both food and drink. And he
was satisfied, and once more set off towards Nsassi’s town. He
arrived there safely this time, having thought of nothing else
but the names of Nenpetro’s daughters and his father’s happiness
along the road.

And Nsassi, when he saw him, was glad, and called him, and
said: “ 0, my dear dog, where hast thou been? and canst thou
tell me the names of Nenpetro’s daughters ? ”

And the dog answered : “ Yes, my master, I know their
names.”

“ Tell me, then.”

u First, thou must pay me, father.”

Nsassi killed a pig and gave it to his dog. Then the dog
told him the names of the beautiful girls, and all that had
happened. And Nsassi was delighted, and gave a great dance ;
and all in town were happy, as now it was certain that Nsassi
would get the daughters of Nenpetro in marriage.

Then Nsassi and his dog set out to claim the daughters of
Nenpetro. But the dancing and singing had made them very
thirsty, so that when they came to the clear water they drank
deeply. And when they were satisfied they found to their
dismay that they had forgotten the names of the girls.

Then the dog went alone to Nenpetro’s town, and again heard
the father call his daughters by their names. They gave him
food and drink, and he immediately returned .to his master.
Then they neither ate nor drank on the road, but went straight

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

for Nenpetro’s town. And Nsassi called the daughters of
Nenpetro by their names and claimed them as his wives.

And Nenpetro said, “ Take them, my son, for thou hast
fulfilled the condition upon which I promised them.”

And the antelope declared war against Nsassi, and they
fought ; but Nsassi gained the victory, and killed the antelope
and ate him.

THE VANISHING WIFE.

Two brothers lived in a certain town. They were called Buite
and Swarmi.

Swarmi was married and had servants to wait upon him ; but
Buite was alone and despised. As Buite had no one to cook for
him, he used to eat palm-kernels, which he daily brought in from
the bush.

Swarmi treated Buite very badly, never asking him to join
him at his meals, or enter in any way into the festivities of his
family; so that Buite determined to leave his town, and live alone
far away in the bush. So one day, without saying anything, he
left his brother, and walked, and walked, and walked, until at
nightfall he arrived at a deep valley, fertile and thickly planted
with palm-trees. Far away at the bottom of this damp valley,
beneath the shade of the high trees, palms and rushes, Buite
built himself a little shed — a roof, supported upon sticks, about
a foot in height above the ground. In this damp hovel he spread
out his mat to sleep upon, and lighted his fire to cook his solitary
meals.

Tired and weary of life, Buite one night fell asleep, and dreamt
that a beautiful girl called him, that he rose and followed her,
and that she led him through the thick jungle and woods, until
they arrived at a river. Here she told him to tap on the ground

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

three times ; and to his surprise a canoe appeared. He tapped
the canoe three times, and paddles made their appearance. Then
she told him to go and fish, and bring her food, that she might
cook it for him ; but that he should cut the heads off the fish,
as she could not bear to see them. And he dreamt that he did
so, and returned to find the girl waiting for him to cook the fish.
Then he awoke, and could sleep no longer that night.

The next morning he got up and, remembering his dream,
travelled through the jungle and woods, until he came to the
river he had seen in his dream. And he tapped the ground, and
lo ! there appeared the canoe. He tapped the canoe, and there
were the paddles. Then he went and fished, and cut the heads
off the fish, and returned to his wretched hovel. But the shed
had disappeared, and in its place was a large house, beautifully
furnished, and all the necessary out-liouses, and above every-
thing, the beautiful girl, who came forward to meet him, just as
if she had been accustomed to do so every day, and she also had
nine little servants to wait upon her. And when she told him,
that she had come to comfort him, he was very pleased and
loved her very much.

And every day, when he went out fishing, she would send one
of the little ones with him, to carry the fish. And people who
passed that way were astonished at the liberal treatment bestowed
upon them by Buite, and wondered where he had got his wife
and riches from. His brother, Swarmi, would not believe in
Buite’s prosperity, and determined to visit him.

Now Buite each day went fishing, taking one of his wife’s
boys with him. But after a time he got tired of always cutting
off the fishes’ heads.

And it so happened one day that he did not cut off the heads

THE VANISHING WIFE.

of the fish. When the boy saw this, he cried out and protested,
saying that his mother did not like to see a fishes head.

But Buite asked him if it was for him, a servant, to talk in
that way to his master. And the boy left for the house, carry-
ing the fish with him. But after a time Buite ran after the
boy, and caught him up just before he got home, and cut the
heads of the fish off, so that his wife should not see them.

And this happened eight times with eight different servants
of his wife. Each time the boy protested ; each time Buite
scolded him, and then, repenting, ran after the boy and cut
the heads of the fish off.

The ninth time he took the youngest boy, Parrot by name,
and fished, and gave the entire fish to him to carry home. And
Parrot cried very much and protested, but was frightened by
Buite’s imperious manner, and ran away home with the fish.
And Buite ran after him, and ran, and ran, and ran, but could
not catch Parrot up.

And Parrot arrived, and showed the fish to the woman ; and
immediately the house vanished ; and the out-houses, and the
servants, and beautiful furniture, and lastly the lovely wife, all
disappeared, so that when Buite arrived, all out of breath, he
no longer saw his house, or wife, or servants, but only his
brother, Swarmi, who just then turned up to visit him.

And Buite was very sorry, and wept very much; and Swarmi
more than ever despised him, and left him once more alone.

YI.

ANOTHER VANISHING WIFE.

There were two sons of one mother, one named Mavungu, and
the other Luemba. Luemba was a fine child, and grew up to be
a handsome man. Mavungu was puny and miserable-looking,
and as he came to man’s estate became dwarfish and mean-
looking. The mother always treated Luemba very well : but
she maltreated Mavungu, and made him sleep outside the house
beneath the mango-trees ; and often when he approached her,
to beg for food, she would throw the water she had cooked the
beans in over his head.

Mavungu could not stand this bad treatment any longer; so
he ran away into the woods, and wandered far away from home,
until he came to a river. Here he discovered a canoe, and so
determined to use it as a means of carrying him still further
from his town. And he paddled and paddled, until he came to
a huge tree, that overspread the river and prevented him from
paddling. So he laid his paddle down, and caught hold of the
leaves of the fuba-tree to pull his canoe along. But no sooner
had he begun to pull the leaves of the fuba-tree, than he heard
a voice, as if of a woman, faintly crying: “ You are hurting
me ! please take care.”

Mavungu wondered, but still pulled himself along.

ANOTHER VANISHING WIFE.

“ Take care ! you are breaking my legs off,” said the voice.

Still Mavungu pulled until a leaf broke off and instantly
became changed into a beautiful woman. This startled Mavungu,
so that he pulled many other leaves off the fuba-tree. Each
leaf turned into a man, or a woman ; his canoe was so full that
he could not pull it any longer.

Then the first woman told him that she had come to be his wife,
and comfort him ; and Mavungu was no longer afraid, but was
very happy. Then the wife appealed to her fetish, and said :
u Am I to marry a man so deformed as this one is?” And
immediately Mavungu became changed into a beautifully-formed
man.

u Is he to be dressed like that?” she cried ; and straightway
his dress was changed.

In the same magical way did the wife build Mavungu a large
house and town for his people, so that he wanted nothing that
was needful to a powerful prince. And as people passed that
way they were astonished at the transformation, and wondered
where Mavungu had obtained his beautiful wife. And his
mother and brother and whole family came to see him ; and he
treated them liberally and sent them away loaded with presents.
But, having been expressly warned by his wife to say nothing to
them as to the origin of his happiness, he left them in ignorance
of that fact.

Then his people invited Mavungu to their town, but his wife
advised him not to go, and so he stayed at home. But after
having received many invitations he finally agreed, in spite
of his wife’s advice, to visit them. He promised, however,
not to eat any of the food given to him. When he arrived in
town his mother placed poisoned food before him and urged him

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

to partake thereof, but he refused. And then they asked about
his beautiful wife, and being taken off his guard, he replied :
u Oh, when I left you I wandered through the woods.”

But when he had got thus far he heard his wife’s voice ringing
through the woods :

u Oh ! Ma-vu-ng-u-a-a-a ! ” and immediately he remembered,
and got up and ran away home.

His wife was very cross with him, and told him plainly that
she would not help him the next time he made a fool of
himself.

Some time after this Mavungu again went to visit his family.
His wife said nothing, neither asking him to stay at home, nor
giving him her consent to his going. When he had greeted
his mother and had partaken of food, the family again asked
him to tell them from whence he had obtained his wife.

And he said : u When I left you, owing to your bad treat-
ment, I wandered through the woods and came to a river.
Dear me ! where has my beautiful hat gone ? ”

“ Your brother has taken it, to put it in the sun,” said the
mother, 66 but continue.”

u I found a canoe with a paddle in it. Where has my coat
gone ? ”

u Your brother has taken that also.”

u And I paddled and paddled. Why have you taken my
beautiful cloth ? ”

u To have it washed, of course.”

u I paddled until I came to a big tree. Nay, why not leave
me my shirt? and as I pulled off the leaves of the fuba-
tree, they turned into my wife and her attendants. But I am
naked ! ”

ANOTHER VANISHING WIFE.

Then Mavungu remembered, and ran away to his town, only
to find that it and his beautiful wife had disappeared. And
when the people heard the whole story, they said it served
Mavungu right for being so foolish as to want to please his
people, who had been his enemies all along, rather than please
his wife, who had been so good to him.

VII.

THE JEALOUS WIFE.

Two wives busied themselves preparing chicoanga, or native
bread, for their husband, who purposed going into the bush
for six months to trade. Each of these women had a child ;
and the husband, as he left them, adjured them to be very
careful with the children, and see that no harm came to them.
They promised faithfully to attend to his entreaty.

When it was nearly time for the husband to return, the women
said : u Let us go and fish, that we may give our husband some
good food when he returns.”

But as they could not leave the children alone, one had to
stay with them while the other fished. The elder wife went
first, and stayed in the fishing-ground for two or three days to
smoke what she had caught. Then the younger wife left to
fish, and the elder remained to take care of the children.

Now the child of the younger wife was a much brighter and
more intelligent child than that of the elder ; and this made the
latter jealous and angry. So she determined to murder the
child, and get it out of the way while its mother was fishing. She
sharpened a razor until it easily cut off the hairs on her arm, and

THE JEALOUS WIFE.

then put it away until the evening when the children should
be asleep. And when it was evening and they were fast asleep,
she went to the place where the child was accustomed to sleep,
and killed it. The other child awoke, and in its fright ran out
of the house and took refuge with a neighbour.

In the morning the elder wife went to look at her evil work,
thinking to put the child away before its mother should return.
But when she looked again at the child she was horror-struck to
find that she had killed her own child. She wept as she picked
up its little body; and wrapping it up in her cloth she ran away
with it into the woods, and disappeared.

The husband returned and at once missed his elder wife. He
questioned the younger one ; but she could only repeat to him
what her child had told her, namely, that during the night the
elder wife had killed her child. The husband would not believe
this story, and asked his friends, the bushmen who had come
with him, to help him to search for his wife. They agreed, and
scoured the woods the whole day, but without success.

The next day one of the bushmen came across a woman who
was nursing something ; so he hid and listened to her singing.
The poor woman was for ever shaking the child, saying :

u Are you always going to sleep like this ? Why don’t you
awake ? Why don’t you talk ? See ! See ! it is your mother
that nurses you.”

u Surely,” said the bushman, “ this must be my friend’s wife.
I will go to him and tell him that I have found her.”

u Let us go,” said the husband ; and as they approach her
they hide themselves so that she cannot see them. And they
find her still shaking the child and still singing the same sad
song.

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

Then the father calls in her relations, and together they go
to the woods, and make her prisoner. And when they saw that
the child had been really murdered, they gave casca to the
woman ; and it killed her. Then they burnt her body, and
scattered its ashes to the wind.

VIII.

NGOMBA’S BALLOON.

Four little maidens one day started to go out fishing. One of
them was suffering sadly from sores, which covered her from
head to foot. Her name was Ngomba. The other three, after
a little consultation, agreed that Ngomba should not accompany
them ; and so they told her to go back.

(i Nay,” said Ngomba, u I will do no such thing. I mean to
catch fish for mother as well as you.”

Then the three maidens beat Ngomba until she wras glad to
run away. But she determined to catch fish also, so she walked
and walked, she hardly knew whither, until at last she came
upon a large lake. Here she commenced fishing and singing :

“ If my mother

[She catches a fish and puts it in her basket.]

Had taken care of me,

[She catches another fish and puts it in her basket.]
I should have been with them,

[She catches another fish and puts it in her basket.]
And not here alone.”

[She catches another fish and puts it in her basket.]
E

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

But a Mpunia (murderer) had been watching her for some
time, and now he came up to her and accosted her :
u What are you doing here ? ”

“ Fishing. Please, don’t kill me ! See, I am full of sores,
but I can catch plenty of fish.”

The Mpunia watched her as she fished and sang :

“ Oh, I shall surely die !

[She catches a fish and puts it in her basket. ]

Mother, you will never see me !

[She catches another fish and puts it in her basket.]

But I don’t care,

[She catches another fish and puts it in her basket. ]

For no one cares for me.”

[She catches another fish and puts it in her basket.]

“ Come with me,” said the Mpunia.

“ Nay, this fish is for mother, and I must take it to her.”

66 If you do not come with me, I will kill you.”

“ Oh ! Am I to die

[She catches a fish and puts it in her basket.]

On the top of my fish ?

[ She catches another fish and puts it in her basket. ]

If mother had loved me,

[She catches another fish and puts it in her basket. ]

To live I should wish.

[She catches another fish and puts it in her basket.]

Take me and cure me, dear Mpunia, and I will serve you.”
The Mpunia took her to his home in the woods, and cured
her. Then he placed her in the paint-house and married her.

Now the Mpunia was verj^ fond of dancing, and Ngomba
danced beautifully, so that he loved her very much, and made
her mistress over all his prisoners and goods.

NGOMBA’s BALLOOxV.

“ When I go out for a walk,” he said to her, “ I will tie this
string round my waist ; and that you may know when I am still
going away from you, or returning, the string will be stretched
tight as I depart, and will hang loose as I return.”

Ngomba pined for her mother, and therefore entered into a
conspiracy with her people to escape. She sent them every day
to cut the leaves of the mateva-palm, and ordered them to put
them in the sun to dry. Then she set them to work to make a
huge ntenda, or basket. And when the Mpunia returned, he
remarked to her that the air was heavy with the smell of
mateva.

Now she had made all her people put on clean clothes, and
when they knew that he was returning, she ordered them to
come to him and flatter him. So now they approached him,
and some called him u father” and others u uncle ” ; and others
told him how he was a father and a mother to them. And he
was very pleased, and danced with them.

The next day when he returned he said he smelt mateva.

Then Ngomba cried, and told him that he was both father
and mother to her, and that if he accused her of smelling of
mateva, she would kill herself.

He could not stand this sadness, so he kissed her and danced
with her until all was forgotten.

The next day Ngomba determined to try her ntenda, to see
if it would float in the air. Thus four women lifted it on high,
and gave it a start upwards, and it floated beautifully. Now
the Mpunia happened to be up a tree, and he espied this great
ntenda floating in the air ; and he danced and sang for joy, and
wished to call Ngomba, that she might dance with him.

That night he smelt mateva again, arid his suspicions were

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

aroused ; and when he thought how easily his wife might
escape him, he determined to kill her. Accordingly, he gave
her to drink some palm-wine that he had drugged. She drank
it, and slept as he put his sommo (the iron that the natives
make red hot, and with which they burn the hole through the
stem of their pipes) into the fire. He meant to kill her by
pushing this red hot wire up her nose.

But as he was almost ready, Ngomba’s little sister, who had
changed herself into a cricket and hidden herself under her
bed, began to sing. The Mpunia heard her and felt forced to
join in and dance, and thus he forgot to kill his wife. But
after a time she ceased singing, and then he began to heat the
wire again. The cricket then sang again, and again he danced
and danced, and in his excitement tried to wake Ngomba to dance
also. But she refused to awake, telling him that the medicine
he had given her made her feel sleepy. Then he went out and
got some palm-wine, and as he went she drowsily asked him if
he had made the string fast. He called all his people, dressed
himself, and made them all dance.

The cock crew.

The iron wire was still in the fire. The Mpunia made his
wife get up and fetch more palm- wine.

Then the cock crew again, and it was daylight.

When the Mpunia had left her for the day, Ngomba deter-
mined to escape that very day. So she called her people and
made them try the ntenda again ; and when she was certain that
it would float, she put all her people, and all the Mpunia’s orna-
ments, into it. Then she got in and the ntenda began to float
away over the tree-tops in the direction of her mother’s town.

When the Mpunia, who was up a tree, saw it coming towards

ngomba’s balloon.

him, he danced and sang for joy, and only wished that his wife
had been there to see this huge ntenda flying through the air.
It passed just over his head, and then he knew that the people
in it were his. So that he ran after it in the tops of the trees,
until he saw it drop in Ngomba’s town. And he determined to
go there also and claim his wife.

The ntenda floated round the house of Ngomba’s mother, and
astonished all the people there, and finally settled down in front
of it. Ngomba cried to the people to come and let them out.
But they were afraid and did not dare, so that she came out
herself and presented herself to her mother.

Her relations at first did not recognise her ; but after a little
while they fell upon her and welcomed her as their long-lost
Ngomba.

Then the Mpunia entered the town and claimed Ngomba as
his wife.

“ Yes,” her relations said, “ she is your wife, and you must
be thanked for curing her of her sickness.”

And while some of her relations were entertaining the
Mpunia, others were preparing a place for him and his wife
to be seated. They made a large fire, and boiled a great quan-
tity of water, and dug a deep hole in the ground. This hole
they covered over with sticks and a mat, and when all was
ready they led the Mpunia and his wife to it, and requested
them to be seated. Ngomba sat near her husband, who, as
he sat down, fell into the hole. The relations then brought
boiling water and fire, and threw it over him until he died.

TX.

THE WICKED HUSBAND.

u Cut you more palm -nuts? why, I am for ever cutting palm-
nuts ! What on earth do you do with them ? I cut enough in
one day to keep you for a week,” said the husband to his wife.

u Nay,” said the wife, u what am I to do? first, one of your
relations comes to me, and asks me for a few, then another, and
another, and so on, until they are all gone. Can I refuse to
give them ? ”

“ Well, as you know, its a long way to where the palm-trees
grow. If you want palm-nuts, you can come with me and carry
them back with you.”

u Nay, I cannot go so far, for I have just put the mandioca in
the water.”

66 But you must go ! ”

“ Nay, 1 will not.”

u Yes, you shall!” And the husband dragged her after him.

When he got her well into the woods he placed her upon a
rough table, he had constructed, and cut off her arms and legs.
Then the wife wriggled her body about and sang: u Oh, if I
had never married, I could never have come to this.”

The husband left her, and returned to his town, telling the
people that his wife had gone to visit her relations,

THE WICKED HUSBAND.

Now a hunter happened to hear the wife’s song, and was
greatly shocked to find her in such a terrible condition. He
returned to town, and told his wife all about it, but cautioned
her to tell no one.

But the prince got to hear about it, and knocked his chin-
gongo (or bell), and thus summoned all his people together.
When they were all assembled, he bade them go and fetch the
wife. And they went and brought her, but she died just as she
arrived in town.

Then they tied up the husband and accused him of the crime.
And while they placed the wife upon a grill, to smoke and dry
the body, they placed the husband beneath, in the fire, and so
burnt him.

THE WONDERFUL CHILD.

A man had two wives named Kengi and Gunga. One day he
called them to him, and said that he was going to Loango to buy
salt, and so might be away some time. He left them both well.
Some time after he had gone, Kengi became heavy with child.
And Gunga asked her how it was that she was in that condi-
tion.

u It is true,” said Kengi, u that I am with child ; but never
you mind. When the child is born, you will see that it is his.”
u How can it be, when he has been gone so long ? ” rejoined
Gunga.

Now when the child was born, it carried with it a handful of
hair. And all the people marvelled. Then the child spoke,
and said: u This is the work of God.”

And the people ran away, they were so much afraid. And
when the child grew up, he went into the woods to hunt elephants.
And all this time the father had not returned.

One day the child killed an elephant, and came to tell his
mother of his good fortune. They called the princes together;
and then they went and cut up the elephant and divided it
among the people. Then the people said that he was a good
child.

THE WONDERFUL CHILD.

And now the father returned, and Kengi was afraid, and
prayed G-unga not to tell him that the child was his.

u No, I will not, Kengi,” said Gunga ; “ but the boy himself
will.”

And when the father came the boy went up to him, and said:
u Father, give me your hand.”

u Nay, child, I know thee not. If I am thy father, tell me,
child, when did I give thee birth, and by whom ? ”

And the people all said : 66 He is your son by Kengi.”
u Nay, I left Kengi well.”

Then the son sings : u Now am I indeed dead, and become
a bird.”

And hearing this, the father took his son to his heart, and gave
him a wife, and made him chief over many towns.

XI.

HOW KENGI LOST HER CHILD.

Nenpetro had two wives, Kengi and Gunga. So he cleared
a. piece of ground for them, and divided it, giving each her part.
And they planted maize, and beans, and cassava; and soon they
had plenty to eat.

One day Gunga took some beans from Kengi’s plantation,
and this made Kengi very cross. Gunga was sorry that she
had done wrong, but pointed out that they were both married
to one man, and that they ate together. After some time they
came to an agreement that all that was born on the farm of the
one should belong exclusively to her, and that the other should
have no right to take it for her use.

Some time after this Kengi came to Gunga’s plantation, and
asked her for a little tobacco, as she was in great pain and
wished to smoke. Gunga told her to sit down awhile, and gave
her tobacco. And while Kengi was on Gunga’s plantation, she
bore a child. Gunga took possession of the child, and would
not give it up to Kengi. Kengi wept bitterly, and sent a special
ambassador to Gunga demanding her child. But Gunga refused
to give the child up, and said she was ready to hold a palaver
over it. Thus the two women resolved to go to the town of
Manilombi and state their grievance to him,

HOW KENGI LOST HER CHILD.

They arrived, and Manilombi received their presents, and
welcomed them. He then asked them what ailed them.

Kengi said : u I brought forth a child. Gunga has robbed
me of it ; let her speak.”

And Gunga answered: u Nay, the child is mine; for when I
took some beans from Kengi’s plantation, Kengi got vexed, and
made me come to an agreement with her that whatsoever was
born on her plantation should belong to her, and all that was
born on my plantation should belong to me, and neither of us
should take anything from each other’s plantation. Now, Kengi
came, uncalled by me, to my plantation, and this child was born
there ; so that, according to our agreement, the child is mine
and she cannot take it from me.”

And witnesses were called, and they gave their evidence.

Then the prince and his old men went to drink water. And
when they returned, Manilombi said that Gunga was acting
within her right, and that therefore the child should belong
to her.

XII.

THE TWIN BROTHERS.

A certain woman, after prolonged labour, gave birth to twins,
both sons. And each one, as he was brought forth, came into
this world with a valuable fetish, or charm. One the mother
called Luemba, the other Mavungu. And they were almost
full-grown at their birth, so that Mavungu, the first-born,
wished to start upon his travels.

Now about this time the daughter of Nzambi was ready for
marriage. The tiger came and offered himself in marriage ;
but Nzambi told him that he must speak to her daughter himself,
as she should only marry the man of her choice. Then the
tiger went to the girl and asked her to marry him, but she
refused him. And the gazelle, and the pig, and all created
things that had breath, one after the other, asked the daughter in
marriage ; but she refused them all, saying that she did not love
them ; and they were all very sad.

Mavungu heard of this girl, and determined to marry her.
And so he called upon his charm, and asked him to help him ;
and then he took some grass in his hands, and changed one
blade of grass into a horn, another into a knife, another into a
gun, and so on, until he was quite ready for the long journey.

THE TWIN BROTHERS.

Then lie set out, and travelled and travelled, until at last
hunger overcame him, when he asked his charm whether it was
true that he was going to be allowed to starve. The charm
hastened to place a sumptuous feast before him, and Mavungu
ate and was satisfied.

u Oh, charm ! ” Mavungu said, u are you going to leave
these beautiful plates which I have used for the use of any
commoner that may come along ? ” The charm immediately
caused all to disappear.

Then Mavungu travelled and travelled, until at length he
became very tired, and had to ask his charm to arrange a place
for him where he might sleep. And the charm saw to his
comfort, so that he passed a peaceful night.

And after many days’ weary travelling he at length arrived at
Nzambi’s town. And Nzambi’s daughter saw Mavungu and
straightway fell in love with him, and ran to her mother and
father and cried : 66 I have seen the man I love, and I shall die
if I do not marry him.”

Then Mavungu sought out Nzambi, and told her that he had
come to marry her daughter.

“ Go and see her first,” said Nzambi, u and if she will have
you, you may marry her.”

And when Mavungu and the daughter of Nzambi saw each
other, they ran towards each other and loved one another.

And they were led to a fine shimbec ; and whilst all the
people in the town danced and sang for gladness, Mavungu and
the daughter of Nzambi slept there. And in the morning
Mavungu noticed that the whole shimbec was crowded with
mirrors, but that each mirror was covered so that the glass
could not be seen. And he asked the daughter of Nzambi

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

to uncover them, so that he might see himself in them. And
she took him to one and opened it, and Mavungu immediately
saw the perfect likeness of his native town. And she took him
to another, and he there saw another town he knew ; and thus
she took him to all the mirrors save one, and this one she
refused to let him see.

“ Why will you not let me look into that mirror ? ” asked
Mavungu.

“ Because that is the picture of the town whence no man that
wanders there returns.”

66 Do let me see it ! ” urged Mavungu.

At last the daughter of Nzambi yielded, and Mavungu looked
hard at the reflected image of that terrible place.

u I must go there,” he said.

u Nay, you will never return. Please don’t go ! ” pleaded
the daughter of Nzambi.

“ Have no fear ! ” answered Mavungu. “ My charm will
protect me.”

The daughter of Nzambi cried very much, but could not
move Mavungu from his purpose. Mavungu then left his
newly-married wife, and mounted his horse, and set off for the
town from whence no man returns.

He travelled and travelled, until at last he came near to the
town, when, meeting an old woman, he asked her for fire to
light his pipe.

“ Tie up your horse first, and come and fetch it.”

Mavungu descended, and having tied his horse up very
securely, he went to the woman for the fire ; and when he
had come near to her she killed him, so that he disappeared
entirely.

THE TWIN BROTHERS.

Now Luemba wondered at the long absence of his brother
Mavungu, and determined to follow him. So he took some
grass, and by the aid of his fetish changed one blade into a
horse, another into a knife, another into a gun, and so on,
until he was fully prepared for his journey. Then he set out,
and after some days’ journeying arrived at Nzambi’s town.

Nzambi rushed out to meet him, and, calling him Mavungu,
embraced him.

u Nay,” said Luemba, u my name is not Mavungu ; I am his
brother, Luemba.”

66 Nonsense ! ” answered Nzambi. u You are my son-in-law,
Mavungu.” And straightway a great feast was prepared.
Nzambi’s daughter danced for joy, and would not hear of his
not being Mavungu. And Luemba was sorely troubled, and
did not know what to do, as he was now sure that Nzambi’s
daughter was Mavungu’s wife. And when night came, Nzambi’s
daughter would sleep in Luemba’s shimbec ; but he appealed to
his charm, and it enclosed Nzambi’s daughter in a room, and
lifted her out of Luemba’s room for the night, bringing her
back in the early morning.

And Luemba’s curiosity was aroused by the many closed
mirrors that hung about the walls ; so he asked Nzambi’s
danghter to let him look into them. And she showed him all
excepting one ; and this she told him was the one that reflected
the town whence no man returns. Luemba insisted upon
looking into this one ; and when *he had seen the terrible
picture he knew that his brother was there.

Luemba determined to leave Nzambi’s town for the town
whence no man returns ; and so after thanking them all for his
kind reception, he set out. They all wept loudly, but were

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

consoled by the fact that he had been there once already, and
returned safely, so that he could of course return a second
time. And Luemba travelled and travelled, until he also came
to where the old woman was standing, and asked her for
fire.

She told him to tie up his horse and come to her to fetch it,
but he tied his horse up only very lightly, and then fell upon
the old woman and killed her.

Then he sought out his brother’s bones and the bones of his
horse, and put them together, and then touched them with his
charm. And Mavungu and his horse came to life again. Then
together they joined the bones of hundreds of people together
and touched them with their charms, so that they all lived
again. And then they set off with all their followers to
Nzambi’s town. And Luemba told Mavungu how he had
been mistaken for him by his father-in-law and wife, and how
by the help of his charm he had saved his wife from dishononr ;
and Mavungu thanked him, and said it was well.

Then a quarrel broke out between the two brothers about the
followers. Mavungu said they were his, because he was the
elder ; but Luemba said that they belonged to him, because he
had given Mavungu and them all life. Mavungu then fell upon
Luemba and killed him ; but his horse remained by his body.
Mavungu then went on his way to Nzambi’s town, and was
magnificently welcomed.

Now Luemba’s horse took his charm and touched Luemba’s
body, so that he lived again. Then Luemba mounted his
horse, and sought out his brother Mavungu and killed him.

And when the town had heard the palaver . they all said that
Luemba had done quite rightly.

XIII.

THE YOUNGER BROTHER WHO KNEW MORE
THAN THE ELDER.

In a certain town there lived two brothers who could not agree'
with one another, the younger continually asserting that he knew
more than his brother, thus enraging his elder.

At last the younger brother said he could stand it no longer,
and threatened to leave his town. So he and his wife left the
the town and wandered far away, until at last they entered a
wood and came to a little river of very clear water.

u Let us drink,” he said, (i and sit down here, as there does
not seem to be a path leading from the river on the other side.”
So they drank and rested. Then he got up and waded down
the stream some way, and found a pathway on the other side of
the river. He called his wife, and they proceeded on their way.
Soon they heard voices, and wondered what kind of people could
have built in such a place.

u Let us go back,” said the wife ; “ how do you know that
these people will not harm us ? ”

u Nay, I will not go back ; so let us enter the town at once.”
They saw only two or three huts.

Now these huts, or shimbecs, were inhabited by a man and his

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

wife, who had left his town on acconnt of certain “ palavers ”
that had been constantly pushed against him.

“ And where do you come from ? ” said he, as the stranger
and his wife entered his clearing.

The younger brother told him how it was that he had left his
town and wandered there, and added that he would like to live
there with him.

“ Very well, you can do so. But first tell me, are you a bad
man?”

“ No, certainly not ; I am a good man, the others treated me
badly.”

66 Well, there’s a shimbec for you ; stay there.”

They did nothing for four days ; but on the fifth day the man
proposed that they should take their women with their hoes to a
certain place he knew of, and get them to dig a large hole,
which they would cover over with dried sticks and leaves, so as
to form a trap for the many wild animals that passed that way.
This they did.

u Now, that we may not quarrel over the game we catch, tell
me : which will you have, the males or the females ? ”

The younger brother said he would take the males.

u Agreed ! Then I will take the females.”

u Agreed ! ”

They went back to their towns, and slept soundly that night.
The next morning very early they went to see their trap. They
had caught an ox.

“ ’Tis yours,” said the owner of the town, “ take it.”

The next day an antelope, the next day a chimbimbi, * and

* A kind of antelope-mouse coloured with a fawn-coloured patch on
its shoulders and back, small straight horns like a goat.

THE YOUNGER BROTHER WHO KNEW MORE THAN THE ELDER. 67

the next a hog, each day a male of some kind, until the younger
brother had so much meat that he did not know what to do with
it. But he gave the owner of the town none of it. He sent his
wife out into the woods to gather sticks to smoke the meat, and
so preserve it. Towards night he became anxious about her, as
she had not returned. He went to the owner of the town and
told him about it. But he could not account for her absence.

66 Let us go and look for her.”

“ Nay,” said the man, “ it is night. To-morrow we will go.”
The younger brother roamed about the whole night, crying
and moaning at the loss of his wife. Early he awoke the
owner of the town and asked him to go with him to look for
her.

u Yes. But first let us go and see the trap, for I have
dreamt that luck has changed, and that to-day we shall catch
a female.”

They went, and soon discovered the female in the trap. It
was the young man’s wife. Overjoyed at finding her the
young man wanted to jump into the hole to help her out.
But the man reminded him of his agreement, and how he had
given him nothing of all the meat he had entrapped.

u Nay, take all the meat you like, but my wife is a human
being, surely you will not kill and eat her ? ”

u She is mine by agreement, I can do as I like with her.”
And thus they went on wrangling the day through.

Now the elder brother had gone out hunting and had
chanced to come into the wood not far from where the trap
was. He heard voices, and so crept cautiously up in that
direction. He recognised his brother’s voice and ran to him.
The younger brother was overjoyed to see him and welcomed

F 2

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

him boisterously. The elder brother met him coldly. When
the owner of the town knew who the stranger was, he laid the
whole matter before him, and asked him to say whether the
female in the trap was his or not. The elder heard all, and
answered that the female in the trap was certainly his, and that
he had better go in and kill her. The younger brother tried
to restrain him ; but the man flung him aside and jumped into
the trap.

u Fool,” said the elder to the younger, when he saw him
trying to stop the man from entering the pit ; u can you not
yet trust your brother’s superior wisdom? See, now, that
male in your trap ; he is yours by agreement, even as your
wife is his. Spare his life, and perhaps he will give you back
your wife.” The man saw how he had been fooled, and gave
the woman up. The two brothers and the wife then returned
to their town.

XIV.

THE CHIMPANZEE AND GORILLA.

A native friend of mine, who considers himself a great
hunter and naturalist, told me that, his plantations having
suffered severely from the depredations of the gorilla, he had
determined to follow up his tracks, and kill him, if possible.
After having journeyed a long distance, he at last came up to
the gorilla’s camp. The gorilla was up a tree, at the foot of
which was a large heap of fruits of different kinds. He resolved
upon the bold course of getting as near this fruit as he could,
waiting until the gorilla should come down. Hardly had he
got himself safely in his chosen position, when a chimpanzee,
club in hand, came leisurely along, evidently looking about for
food.

“ Oh la ! What fool has left his food in such a place, I
wonder, right in the public footpath ? I need go no further.”

Thereupon the chimpanzee sat himself down, and began to
enjoy a really good feed. He had not been there very long,
however, before the gorilla came quietly down the tree. He
quietly seated himself opposite to the chimpanzee, and com-
menced to eat also.

u Here, you ! ” said the chimpanzee, u what do you mean by
eating my fruit ? Can’t you go and find some for yourself? ”

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

The gorilla made no reply, but went on eating. The chim-
panzee got excited, and began to abuse the gorilla. The gorilla
looked at him. Then the chimpanzee struck the gorilla. The
gorilla smiled, and pushed him aside. The chimpanzee took
his club, and hit the gorilla with all his might. The gorilla
then raised his long arm, and gave the chimpanzee one fearful
blow, which stretched him dead at his feet.

u I did not wait to see any more,” said my friend, 66 but ran
away as hard as I could.”

XY.

THE ANTELOPE AND THE LEOPARD.

The leopard one day bet his life to the antelope, that if he hid
himself the antelope would never find him.

“ Well,” said the antelope, “ I accept your bet. Go and hide
yourself.”

And the leopard went into the woods and hid himself. Then
the antelope looked for him, and after a little while found him.
And the leopard was very angry with the antelope, and told
him to go and hide himself, and see how easily he would find
him. The antelope agreed to this, but told the leopard that he
would have his life.

After some time the leopard set out to seek the antelope.
He searched the woods through and through, but could not find
him. At last, thoroughly worn out, he sat down, saying : u I
am too fat to walk any more ; and I am also very hungry. I
will pick some of these nonje nuts, and carry them to my town
and eat them.”

So he filled the bag he carried under his arm (called nkutu ),
and returned to his town. Once there, he determined to call
his people together, and continue his search for the antelope
after breakfast,

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

So he knocked his ngongo, and ordered all his people to
assemble, from the babe that was born yesterday, to the sick
men who could not walk and must be carried in a hammock.
When they were all there, he ordered his slaves to crack the
nonje nuts. But out of the first nut that they cracked jumped
a beautiful dog.

Now, the leopard was married to four princesses. To one by
common consent, to another by the rites of Boomba, to the third
by the rites of Funzi, and to the fourth by those of Lembe.
Each of his wdves had her own cooking-shed.

Now, when the little dog jumped out of the nut, it ran into
the first wife’s shed. She beat it, so that it ran away and
entered the shed of the wife after the rites of Boomba. This
wife also beat the dog, so that it took refuge with the wife after
the rites of Funzi. She also beat the little dog; and thus it fled
to the wife after the rites of Lembe. She killed it.

But as the dog was dying, it changed into a beautiful damsel.
And when the leopard saw this beautiful maiden, he longed to
marry her, and straightway asked her to be his wife.

The beautiful girl answered him and said : u First, kill those
four women who killed the little dog.”

The leopard immediately killed them. Then the maid said :
“ How can I marry a man with such dreadful-looking nails.
Please have them taken out.”

The leopard was so much in love with the maiden, that he
had his claws drawn.

u What fearful eyes you have got, my dear leopard ! I can
never live with you with those eyes always looking at me.
Please take them out.”

The leopard sighed, but obeyed.

THE ANTELOPE AND THE LEOPARD.

“ I never saw such ugly ears ; why don't you have them cut ? ”
The leopard had them cut.

“ You have certainly the clumsiest feet that have been seen in
this world ! Can you not have them chopped off? ”

The leopard in despair had his feet taken off.
u And now my dear, dear leopard, there is but one more
favour that I have to ask you. Have you not noticed how ugly
your teeth are ? how they disfigure you ? Please have them
drawn."

The leopard was now very weak, but he was so fascinated by
the girl, and so hopeful now that he would obtain her by this last
sacrifice, that he sent to the cooking-shed for a stone and had his
teeth knocked out.

The maiden then saw that the leopard was fast dying. So
she turned herself into the antelope, and thus addressed him :
u My dear leopard, you thought to kill me to avoid giving
your life to me, as promised, when I found you. See now how
I have outdone you. I have destroyed you and your whole
family." And this is why the leopard now always kills the
antelope when he meets one.

XVI.

HOW THE SPIDER WON AND LOST NZAMBI’S
DAUGHTER.

Nzambi on earth had a beautiful daughter ; but she swore that
no earthly being should marry her, who could not bring her the
heavenly fire from Nzambi Mpungu, who dwelt in the heavens
above the blue roof. And as the daughter was very fair to look
upon, the people marvelled, saying : u How shall we secure this
treasure ? and who on such a condition will ever marry her ? ”
Then the spider said: “ I will, if you will help me.”

And they all answered: “ We will gladly help you, if you
will reward us.”

Then the spider reached the blue roof of heaven, and dropped
down again to the earth, leaving a strong silken thread firmly
hanging from the roof to the earth below. Now, he called the
tortoise, the woodpecker, the rat, and the sandfly, and bade them
climb up the thread to the roof. And they did so. Then the
woodpecker pecked a hole through the roof, and they all entered
the realm of the badly dressed Nzambi Mpungu*

Nzambi Mpungu received them courteously, and asked them
what they wanted up there.

* See Appendix, p. 133,

SOW THE SPIDER WON AND LOST NZAMBl’s DAUGHTER. 75

And they answered him, saying : “ O Nzambi Mpungu of
the heavens above, great father of all the world, we have
come to fetch some of your terrible fire, for Nzambi who rules
upon earth.”

“Wait here then,” said Nzambi Mpungu, “ while I go to
my people and tell them of the message that you bring.”

But the sandfly unseen accompanied Nzambi Mpungu and
heard all that was said. And while he was gone, the others
wondered if it were possible for one who went about so poorly
clad to be so powerful.

Then Nzambi Mpungu returned to them, and said : “ My
friend, how can I know that you have really come from the
ruler of the earth, and that you are not impostors ? ”

“ Nay,” they said ; “put us to some test that we may prove
our sincerity to you.”

“ I will,” said Nzambi Mpungu. “ Go down to this earth of
yours, and bring me a bundle of bamboos, that I may make
myself a shed.”

And the tortoise went down, leaving the others where they
were, and soon returned with the bamboos.

Then Nzambi Mpungu said to the rat : “ Get thee beneath this
bundle of bamboos, and I will set fire to it. Then if thou escape
I shall surely know that Nzambi sent you.”

And the rat did as he was bidden. And Nzambi Mpungu set
fire to the bamboos, and lo ! when they were entirely consumed,
the rat came from amidst the ashes unharmed.

Then he said : “You are indeed what you represent your-
selves to be. I will go and consult my people again.”

Then they sent the sandfly after him, bidding him to keep well
out of sight, to hear all that was said, and if possible to find out

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

where the lightning was kept. The midge returned and related
all that he had heard and seen.

Then Nzambi Mpungu returned to them, and said: “Yes, I
will give you the fire you ask for, if you can tell me where it is
kept.”

And the spider said : u Give me then, 0 Nzambi Mpungu,

one of the five cases that you beep in the fowl-house.”

66 Truly you have answered me correctly, 0 spider ! Take
therefore this case, and give it to your Nzambi.”

And the tortoise carried it down to the earth; and the spider
presented the fire from heaven to Nzambi; and Nzambi gave the
spider her beautiful daughter in marriage.

But the woodpecker grumbled, and said : u Surely the woman
is mine ; for it was I who pecked the hole through the roof,
without which the others never could have entered the kingdom
of the Nzambi Mpungu above.”

u Yes,” said the rat, u but see how I risked my life among the
burning bamboos ; the girl, I think, should be mine.”

u Nay, 0 Nzambi ; the girl should certainly be mine ; for
without my help the others would never have found out where
the fire was kept,” said the sandfly.

Then Nzambi said : “ Nay, the spider undertook to bring me
the fire ; and he has brought it. The girl by rights is his ; but
as you others will make her life miserable if I allow her to live
with the spider, and I cannot give her to you all, I will give her
to none, but will give you each her market value.”

Nzambi then paid each of them fifty longs of cloth and one
case of gin ; and her daughter remained a maiden and waited
upon her mother for the rest of her days.

XVII.

THE TURTLE AND THE MAN.

A turtle and a man built themselves a small town, but be-
cause they had as yet planted nothing they suffered from
hunger.

u Let us build a large trap,” said the turtle, u that we may
catch an antelope.” The man agreed, and they set to work
and made a very large one.

u This is too large,” said the turtle, u let us divide it, and
each have a trap of his own.”

The man divided it and the turtle chose the best one. That
night the man caught nothing, but a splendid antelope was
found in the turtle’s trap. As the turtle could not lift it, he
called all the people from round about to a dance.

While they were dancing, the chimpacasi, or wild ox, came
out of the wood and wanted to know what all this sinking: was
about. And the turtle told him that he had caught an antelope,
and as he could not carry it to his house, he had called in his
friends. “ Perhaps, good ox, you will take the antelope out of
the trap for me and lift it as far as my house.”
u Oh, certainly,” said the ox.
u And now, please go and fetch some water.”

The ox went and drew some water. They then cut up the
antelope.

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

u Clean the plates, please,” said the turtle.

And the delighted ox washed them.

(( This is your share, dear ox ; but you must go and get some
leaves to wrap it in.”

And while the ox was away in the woods, collecting leaves,
the turtle lifted all the meat up and carried it into his house,
which was a very strong one, and shut himself inside.

The ox returned and asked for his share, but the turtle re-
fused to let him have it, and insulted him grossly. The ox
became very angry, and told the turtle that he would destroy
the trap. But the turtle had reset the trap, so that when the
ox put his head in he was caught, and died after a short
struggle.

“ Oh, oh, Mr. Ox, I told you so. You should be more care-
ful when you are entering the turtle's trap.”

He called the people again to dance and sing.

This time the leopard was attracted by the noise, and came
to the turtle to find out what it was all about. And the turtle
told him, and said that his hands were very sore, and that he
could not carry the ox to his house ; would the leopard drag
him there ?

Glad to oblige the turtle, the leopard at once offered his
services, and in a very short time had brought the ox to the
turtle’s house.

u Thank you, dear leopard, will you now go to the river and
fetch some water, and clean the pots ? 99

u Certainly,” said the leopard.

And when they had cooked the whole of the ox, the turtle
put aside part of the meat for the leopard, and carried the rest
into his shimbec.

THE TURTLE AND THE MAN.

“You would better go and fetch some leaves to wrap the
meat in,” said the turtle.

The leopard went. While he was away, the turtle took the
meat, and shut himself within his strong house.

The leopard returned and said : “ Turtle, turtle, where is my
meat? ”

“ It is here, my dear leopard.”

“ Then give it me.”

“ Nay, the ox was mine.”

“ Yes, but I helped you to cook it.”

“ Well, I shall not give you any.”

“ Then I will destroy your trap.”

“ Take care you do not meet with the fate of the ox.”

“Yes, I will take care.”

And the leopard went and destroyed the trap entirely, and
then, placing the rope round his neck lay down in the middle
of the ruins, as if he had been entrapped.

Then the turtle went again to look at his trap and was de-
lighted to find the leopard there.

“ Ah, ah, I told you so ! Why did you not take more care,
my dear leopard ? ”

And the turtle stretched out his long neck as if to kiss the
leopard. The leopard sprang upon him, and bit the turtle’s head
off before he had time to pull it in. He then entered his shim-
bee and ate up all the meat that the turtle had stored there.

Now the man wondered what the leopard was doing in the
turtle’s shimbec. So he went there and asked the leopard
And the leopard told him how the turtle had tried to trick him,
and how he had killed the turtle. And the man said he was
quite right and might go on eating the food of the turtle.

XVIII.

KILLING A LEOPARD.

I closed the autobiography of a Fjort in u Seven Years among
the Fjort” thus: u We were obliged to hurry back to town,
however, as notice was brought to us that some one had killed a
leopard. The custom is that when a leopard is killed, the
people of the different towns in that district can loot each other’s
towns to their hearts’ content, and on the day fixed for the
delivery of the leopard to the king, the destroyer of the leopard
can take it through any of the towns he chooses, having the
right to appropriate any article he may meet in his road that is
not inside a shimbec or other dwelling.”

I can now tell you more of this custom. The slayer, it seems,
is himself tied up, and the head of the leopard is carefully
wrapped up in cloth. Both are then taken to the king, who
addresses the slayer thus :

“ My son, why have you slain this man ? ”
u Father,” answers the slayer, u he is a very dangerous man
and has taken the life of many of your people’s sheep and
fowls.”

u Thou hast done well, my son. Count now the hairs of his
whiskers. As thou knowest, there should be three times nine

KILLING A LEOPARD.

hairs, and for every one that is missing must thou pay me two
pieces of cloth.”

66 Father, they are all there.”

a Then pull them out carefully ; take also his teeth, his claws,
and his skin, and prepare them for my use.”

This the hunter does and presents them to the king.

Then the king again addresses him :

u My son, thou art a great hunter and must need someone to
cook thy food for thee when thou goest out hunting. Take
therefore this young girl as thy slave, or concubine.”

u But father, look ! I am not in a fit state to receive such a
gift; my clothes are worn and tattered.”

u Thou sayest but what is the truth, my son. Take therefore
these clothes and dress thyself.”

66 Yea, father, thou art too good to me ; but 1 have no one to
cut wood for such a beautiful creature.”

u There, there, take this small boy to cut wood for her, and
this man to carry thy gun.”

“ I clap my hands to thee, father, and thank thee.”

Then the king has to give a grand feast in honour of the
event.

XIX.

THE GAZELLE AND THE LEOPARD.

The gazelle said to the leopard : u It is now the dry season,
and we should be cutting down the bush, that our women may
plant as soon as the first rains come.”

u Well,” said the leopard, “ I cannot go to-day, but you
may as well go.”

And the gazelle went ; and all that day he cut the bush, and
cleared the ground for planting. And the next day he went
also alone.

On the third day the leopard called on the gazelle and asked
him to go to the plantation with him. But the gazelle said he
was sick, and could not go, so the leopard went by himself.

The next day the leopard again called for the gazelle, but he
was not in.

Ci Where has he gone?” enquired the leopard.

66 Oh, he has gone to another part.”

And each day the leopard called upon the gazelle he was
either sick or out of town : so that the leopard had nearly all
the hard work to himself. When the women had planted, and
the harvest was ripe, however, the gazelle went to look at the
plantation. He was greatly pleased to find so much planted,
and thought how pleased his friends would be if he invited them

THE GAZELLE AND THE LEOPARD.

to a feast ; so he called in all the antelopes and other beasts of
the field, and they had a splendid feast.

By and by the leopard thought he would go and see how his
plantation was getting on, and no sooner had he arrived there
than he exclaimed: 66 Hullo, who has been feeding on my planta-
tion and eaten up my corn ? Surely I will set a trap for them
and catch the thieves.”

The next day the animals, led by the little gazelle, came
again ; and he warned them, saying : “ Be careful, for the
leopard will surely set a trap for us.” But the antelope
became careless, and finally fell into the leopard’s trap.
“ There,” says the gazelle, “ I told you to be careful. What
shall we do ? They have all run away and left us, and I am not
strong enough to release you.”

Then the leopard came, and rejoiced greatly at having caught
a thief. He took the antelope to his town. “ Please, Sir, the
gazelle told me to go,” cried the antelope, “don’t kill me, don’t
kill me.”

“ How am I to catch the gazelle ? ” the leopard replied.
“ No, I must kill you.” And so he killed the antelope and ate
him.

When the gazelle heard what the leopard had done, he was
greatly annoyed, and declared that as the leopard was their
chief, they were quite right in eating the food he had provided
for them. Was it not the duty of the father to provide for his
children ? “ Well, well, never mind, he will pay us for this.”

Then the gazelle made a drum, and beat it until all the
animals came as if to a dance. When they were assembled, he
told them that they must be revenged upon the leopard.

The leopard heard the drum, and said to his wife: “ Let us

G 2

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

go to the dance.” But his wife said she would rather stay at
home, and did not go. The leopard went ; but no sooner had
he arrived than they all set upon him and killed him. And
when the dance was over, the leopard’s wife wondered why he
did not return. The gazelle sent her the head of her husband
skinned as her part of the feast ; and not knowing that it was

her husband’s head, she ate it.

' *

u Oh, for shame,” said the gazelle, u You have eaten your
husband’s head.”

u Nay, Sir, the shame rests with you ; for you gave it to me
to eat, after having murdered him.” And she wept and cursed
the gazelle.

XX.

THE WILD CAT AND THE GAZELLE.

Nenpetro (kind of wild cat) and Nsessi (the gazelle), agreed
that in case of famine the one might eat the other’s mother.
The famine came. Nsessi killed Nenpetro’s mother and ate
her ; hut, loving his own mother very much, he took her into
the bush, and hid her there in a cave, telling her never to come
out unless she should hear him call her. Each day he took her
food, but not caring to carry it himself, he got Nenpetro’s little
son to carry it for him.

Now this little boy felt with his father in his loss of his
mother, and so resolved to tell him where Nsessi kept his
mother. Thus he told Nenpetro, and showed him the way to
the cave where Nsessi had hidden his mother. Nenpetro then
simulated the voice of Nsessi, and called to her to come out.
When she came, Nenpetro killed her and took her to town.
Then he had her cooked, and gave a feast, and invited Nsessi.
But Nsessi wondered where he could have got his meat, and
went to look for his mother. Could he have killed her ? She
was not there. Yes, he had killed her. He refused Nenpetro’s
invitation, and said he would no longer live in that town. So
he called his people together, and they burned their houses and
went to live elsewhere.

XXI.

THE CRAFTY WOMAN OVERREACHES HERSELF.

It was market day, and all were intent upon going to Kitanda
(the market). The first lady to arrive brought a large basket
of chicoanga (native bread), placed it under the shade of the
market-tree, and then hid herself in the bush near at hand.

A second lady came along with a basket (or matet) of pig,
and sat herself down beneath the tree.

cc I wonder,” said she, as she caught sight of the chicoanga,
u to whom that belongs ? I should very much like one piece
to eat with a little of my pig. I was so busy preparing the pig
for market, that I really had no time to get any chicoanga
ready.” She raised her voice and cried out :

“ To whom does this chicoanga belong ? Where is its
owner ? ”

This she repeated many times, and then came to the con-
clusion that it had no owner. So she took one piece and ate it
with her pig.

By-and-bye the owner of the chicoanga came forth, and told
the owner of the pig that she must pay her in pig for the
chicoanga she had taken.

u No,” said the owner of the pig.

And the people round about were called in ; and after hearing

THE CRAFTY WOMAN OVERREACHES HERSELF.

what both had to say, they declared that the woman who owned
the chicoanga was in the wrong; because she had hidden herself
in the bush on purpose that her chicoanga should be taken by
the owner of the pig, whom she had evidently seen coming.
She had laid this trap to get some of the pig, and she deserved
to lose her chicoanga.

XXII.

HOW THE FETISH SUNGA PUNISHED MY GREAT-
UNCLE’S TWIN BROTHER, BASA.

Basa was my great uncle's twin brother, and a very clever
fisherman. Every day he used to go out fishing in the river ;
and every day he caught great quantities of fish, which he used
to smuggle into his house, so that none should know that he had
caught any. His brother and relations used each day to ask
him : 66 Basa, have you caught any fish ? ” And he would
answer u No,” although his house was full of fish going rotten.
All this time the fetish Sunga was watching, and was grieved
to hear him lie thus. So one day she sent one of her moleques,
or little servants, to the place where Basa was fishing, to call him
to her. It happened that upon that day Basa caught so much
fish that he had to make some new matets, or baskets, to
hold it all. He had already filled two, and placed them in the
fork of a large tree, when he heard three distinct clappings of
the hands, as if some child were saluting him, and then he heard
a voice saying: 66 Come to my mother.”

Then Basa was greatly afraid, and answered: “ Which way ?
please show me the way.”

“ Follow me,” said the voice of the child, as she led him to
the river.

HOW THE FETISH SUNGA PUNISHED BASA.

When they stepped into the river, the waters dried up, and
all the fish disappeared, so that the bed of the river formed a
perfect road for them. Even the fallen trees had been removed,
that Basa might not meet the slightest difficulty in the way.
When they had reached the watershed of the river, there in the
great lake he saw a large and beautiful town. Here he was
met by many people, and warmly welcomed. They led him to
a chair, and asked him to be seated. But he was alarmed at all
this ceremony, and wondered what it all meant.

Then Sunga laid a table before him, and loaded it with food
and wine, and asked him to eat and drink. But he was still
afraid, and told Sunga that so grand was the feast she had
placed before him that the smell alone of it had satisfied him.
Then she pressed him to eat and drink, and finally he did so,
drinking all the wine that there was.

Then Sunga deprived him of the power of speech, that he
might lie no more, and bade him depart to his town. And so
for the future he could only make his wants known by signs.

XXIII.

THE RABBIT AND THE ANTELOPE.

It was during an almost rainless “ hot season,” when all who
had no wells were beginning to feel the pangs of thirst, that the
rabbit and the antelope formed a partnership to dig a deep well
so that they could never be in wTant of water.

“ Let us finish our food,” said the antelope, “ and be off to
our work.”

u Nay,” said the rabbit; “had we not better keep the food
for later on, when we are tired and hungry after our work ? ”

“Very well, hide the food, rabbit; and let us get to work,
I am very thirsty.”

They arrived at the place where they purposed having the
well, and worked hard for a short time.

u Listen ! ” said the rabbit ; “ they are calling me to go back
to town.”

“ Nay, I do not hear them.”

u Yes, they are certainly calling me, and I must be off*. My
wife is about to present me with some children, and I must name
them.”

“ Go then, dear rabbit, but come back as soon as you can.”

The rabbit ran off to where he had hidden the food, and ate
some of it, and then went back to his work,

THE RABBIT AND THE ANTELOPE.

u Well!” said the antelope, “ what have you called your little
one?”

u Uncompleted one,” said the rabbit.
u A strange name,” said the antelope.

Then they worked for a while.

66 Again they are calling me,” cried the rabbit. u I must
be off, so please excuse me. Cannot you hear them calling
me?”

“ No,” said the antelope, “ I hear nothing.”

Away ran the rabbit, leaving the poor antelope to do all the
work, while he ate some more of the food that really belonged to
them both. When he had had enough, he hid the food again, and
ran back to the well.

u And what have you called your last, rabbit ? ”
c 6 Half-completed one.”

u What a funny little fellow you are ! But come, get on with
the digging ; see how hard I have worked.”

Then they worked hard for quite a long time. “ Listen, now ! ”
said the rabbit, 66 surely you heard them calling me this time!”
“ Nay, dear rabbit, I can hear nothing ; but go, and get
back quickly.”

Away ran the rabbit, and this time he finished the food before
going back to his work.

66 Weil, little one, what have you called your third child?”
u Completed,” answered the rabbit. Then they worked hard
and as night was setting in returned to their village.

u I am terribly tired, rabbit ; run and get the food, or I
shall faint.”

The rabbit went to look for the food, and then calling out to
the antelope, told him that some horrid cat must have been

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

there, as the food was all gone, and the pot quite clean. The
antelope groaned, and went hungry to bed.

The next day the naughty little rabbit played the antelope
the same trick. And the next day he again tricked the antelope.
And the next, and the next, until at last the antelope accused
the rabbit of stealing the food. Then the rabbit got angry,
and dared him to take casca (or the test-bark, a purge or
emetic) .

“Let us both take it,” said the antelope, “and let him whose
tail is the first to become wet, be considered the guilty one.”

So they took the casca and went to bed. And as the medicine
began to take effect upon the rabbit, he cried out to the
antelope :

“ See, your tail is wet ! ”

“ Nay, it is not !"

“ Yes, it is! ”

“No, but yours is, dear rabbit ; see there ! ”

Then the rabbit feared greatly, and tried to run away. But
the antelope said : “ Fear not, rabbit ; I will do you no harm.
Only you must promise not to drink of the water of my well,
and to leave my company for ever.”

Accordingly the rabbit left him and went his way.

Some time after this, a bird told the antelope that the rabbit
used to drink the water of the well every day. Then the
antelope was greatly enraged, and determined to kill the
rabbit. So the antelope laid a trap for the silly little rabbit.
He cut a piece of wood, and shaped it into the figure of an
animal about the size of the rabbit ; and then he placed this
figure firmly in the ground near to the well, and smeared it all
over with bird-lime.

THE RABBIT AND THE ANTELOPE.

The rabbit went as usual to drink the waters of the well,
and was much annoyed to find an animal there, as he thought,
drinking the water also.

u And what may you be doing here, Sir ? ” said the rabbit to
the figure.

The figure answered not.

Then the rabbit, thinking that it was afraid of him, went
close up to it, and again asked what he was doing there.

But the figure made no answer.

“ What ! ” said the rabbit, u do you mean to insult me ?
Answer me at once, or I will strike you.”

The figure answered not.

Then the little rabbit lifted up his right hand, and smacked
the figure in the face. His hand stuck to the figure.

u What's the matter ? ” said the rabbit. u Let my hand go,
sir, at once, or I will hit you again.”

The figure held fast to the rabbit’s right hand. Then the
rabbit hit the figure a swinging blow with his left. The left
hand stuck to the figure also.

“ What can be the matter with you, Sir? You are excessively
silly. Let my hands go at once, or I will kick you.”

And the rabbit kicked the figure with his right foot ; but his
right foot stuck there. Then he got into a great rage, and
kicked the figure with his left. And his left leg stuck to the
figure also. Then, overcome with rage, he bumped the figure
with his head and stomach, but these parts also stuck to the
figure. Then the rabbit cried with impotent rage. The
antelope, just about this time, came along to drink water ; and
when he saw the rabbit helplessly fastened to the figure, he
laughed at him, and then killed him.

XXIV.

THE FIGHT BETWEEN THE TWO FETISHES,
LIFUMA AND CHIMPUKELA.

Now this is a sad but true story, for it is of recent occurrence,
and many living witnesses can vouch for its truth.

Poor King Jack, late of Cabinda, now retired a little into
the interior of KaCongo, known to all who visit this part of
Africa, either in whaler, steamer, or man of war, owns the
fetish called Lifuma. Lifuma had all his life sniffed the fresh
sea-breezes, and rejoiced with his people when they returned
from the deep sea in their canoes laden with fish. But now
circumstances (namely, the occupation of Cabinda by the Portu-
guese) forced him to retire to the interior, behind the coast-line
between Futilla and Cabinda. How he longed to see his people
happy yet again is proved by the trouble he put himself to in
trying to gain possession of a part of the sea-beach that he
thought should belong to his 66 hinterland.” He left the sweet
waters of Lake Chinganga Miyengela (waters that have travelled
even to the white man's country, and returned without being
corrupted) and quietly travelled down to the sea-beach, near to
a place called Kaia. Once there, he picked up a few shells and
pebbles, and filled a pint mug with salt water, meaning to carry
them back to his sweet-water home, and to place them on the

THE FIGHT BETWEEN THE TWO FETISHES.

holy ground beside him as a sign of his ownership of the sea-
beach, and as a means whereby his people might once more play
on the sea-beach by the salt water, and once again occupy them-
selves in fishing in the deep blue sea. Peaceful and benevolent
was indeed his mission, and perhaps, as he passed the town of
Kaia and Subantanu unmolested, he at last thought that his
object was secured. Alas ! the bird Ngundu espied him, and
rushed to town to acquaint the Kaia people’s fetish, called
Chimpukela. Then Chimpukela. ran after Lifuma, and caught
him up, and roughly asked him what he had there, hidden
under his cloth.

u Go away,” cried the anxious Lifuma, as he pushed Chim-
pukela aside.

Chimpukela stumbled over an ant-hill and fell, so that when
he got up again he was very angry with Lifuma, and knocked
him down. Poor Lifuma fell upon a thorn of the Minyundu
tree and broke his leg. The mug of salt water was also spilt,
and Chimpukela took from him all the relics he had gathered
upon his sea-beach.

Then Chimpukela swore that ant-hills should no longer exist
in his country, and that is why you never see one there now
as you travel through his country.

And Lifuma cursed the bird Ngundu, and the tree Min-
yundu, and canoes, and salt water, and everything pertaining to
the beach. And that is why all these things do not now exist in
his country, or on his sweet-water lake.

XXY.

THE FETISH OF CHILUNGA.

At a place called Chilunga, north of Loango, there is a fetish
called Boio, who by his representative in the flesh, a princess,
rules the country with a rod of iron. His dwelling-place is the
earth ; and as people pass that part which is dedicated to him,
they hear his voice. People place their offerings here, and
while yet they are looking at them they disappear. The spirit,
or fetish, has, besides this human voice, the voice of a certain
bird.

The sister of my cook, married to a man in Chilunga, was
one day gathering sticks in a wood, when she heard a bird
singing very loudly. Half in fun, half seriously, she spoke
roughly to it, telling it to keep quiet ; when to her astonish-
ment her hands were roughly tied behind her back by some
invisible force. She stood rooted to the place, as it were, by
fear, and was found there by her husband who, wondering at
her delay, had come to look for her.

“ How have you angered Boio ? ” he asked.

She told him what had happened, and said that she did not
know that the voice of the bird was that of Boio. The husband
ran to the princess, and, having explained the matter, made
her a peace-offering. The princess then gave the woman her
liberty.

THE FETISH OF CHILUNGA.

On another occasion some natives laughed at two men who
were carrying a hammock-pole as if a hammock was hanging
from it. Immediately they were made prisoners by invisible
hands, and only released upon a heavy payment being made to
the princess by their relations. The men, you see, were carry-
ing the fetish in his hammock, although both it and the hammock
were invisible to the passers-by.

Girls who are given in marriage by their parents to ugly
men, and who object to them on that account, are taken to the
holy ground. Then they hear a voice speaking to them, saying:
ct Are you then so beautiful that yon can afford to despise these
good men on account of their ugliness?” Then their hands are
tied behind them ; and there they remain prisoners until such
time as they are willing to marry the men. When the whole
town, men, women, and children, go to the holy ground to
praise this fetish, it takes a great delight in those who dance
well, and punishes those who dance badly.

A certain white man would not believe in the sudden disap-
pearance of the offerings made to this spirit. So he was asked
by the princess to come to the holy ground and bring some
presents for the spirit. The white man immediately set out
with many presents, laughing at the whole matter as if it were
a huge joke. His servants placed the gifts upon the ground,
while he looked sharply after them. Then they cleared the
ground and left him there. And lo ! while he was yet looking,
the presents disappeared. Then he said he believed in that
spirit.

Only two men have the power of seeing this fetish in his
earthly home ; and they are the men appointed to carry food
to him.

XXVI.

THE LEOPARD AND THE CROCODILE.

Once a man and his many wives lived in a certain town far
away in the bush. His wives refused to work, and he was at
his wit’s ends to know what to do to feed them and himself.

One day a happy thought struck him, and away he went into
the bush to cut palm-kernels. He cut twenty bunches in all.
Then he sought out the leopard, and made him his friend by
presenting him with ten bunches of palm-nuts. The leopard
thanked him very much, and told him that if he would cut
palm -nuts for him, and him only, he would never more be
without fresh meat to feed his wives. The man thanked the
leopard, and promised to supply his wants.

Then the man went to the crocodile and presented him with
ten bunches of palm-nuts. The crocodile was indeed thankful,
and promised to supply the man daily with a quantity of fish,
if he would only promise in his turn to cut palm-nuts for him
and no other.

The next day, the leopard came to the man’s town and pre-
sented him with a wild pig. The crocodile came soon after-
wards and brought him plenty of fish. Thus the town was full
of food, and the man and his wives were never hungry.

This continued for a long time, until, in fact, the crocodile

THE LEOPARD AND THE CROCODILE.

and leopard were getting tired of palm-nuts, and asked the
man to present them with a dog, as they had heard that dog’s
flesh was excellent. Hitherto neither the crocodile nor the
leopard had met each other, nor had they ever seen a dog.
The man did not wish to lose his dogs, so he told them that he
had none. But they each day became more anxious to eat
dog’s flesh, and so they worried the man, until at last he
promised them a dog each. But he did not mean to give them
the dogs. However, they bothered and vexed him so much
that they became a nuisance to him, and he determined to rid
himself of them.

The next day, the leopard came and asked for a dog, which
as yet he had neither seen nor tasted. The man told him that
if he went to such and such a place he would there find a dog
just to his taste. The leopard left him to find the dog.

The crocodile also came, bringing plenty of fish, and again
asked for a dog. The man told him to go to the same place he
had indicated to the leopard, and told him that he would there
meet a dog that he would enjoy immensely.

The crocodile arrived at the spot first, but saw nothing that
he could imagine a dog. So relying upon the word of the man
he closed his eyes and basked in the hot sun. After a time the
leopard came along and found the crocodile, as he thought,
asleep.

u This is indeed a much larger animal than I had imagined
the dog to be,” he murmured.

The crocodile, aroused by the rustling noise made by the
leopard as he approached, slowly opened his eyes, and thought
the leopard was a very large kind of dog, if all he had heard
about dogs was true. Hardly had he moved, when the leopard

H 2

100

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

sprang upon him. Then there was a terrible fight, and the
man called all the town to witness it. After a prolonged
struggle the beasts killed each other, and the man and his
people returned to town and feasted upon the food the crocodile
and leopard had given him, and sang and danced until the
next day.

XXVII.

WHY SOME MEN ARE WHITE AND OTHERS
BLACK.

It was in the beginning, and four men were walking through
a wood. They came to a place where there were two rivers.
One river was of water, clear as crystal and of great purity ;
the other was black and foul and horrible to the taste. And
the four men were puzzled as to which river they should cross ;
for, whereas the dirty river seemed more directly in their way,
the clear river was the most pleasant to cross, and perhaps after
they had crossed it they might regain the proper path. The
men, after some consultation, thought that they ought to cross
the black river, and two of them straightway crossed it. The
other two, however, scarce touched and tasted the water than
they hesitated and returned. The two that had now nearly
crossed the river called to them and urged them to come, but in
vain. The other two had determined to leave their companions,
and to cross the beautiful and clear river. They crossed it, and
were astonished to find that they had become black, except just
those parts of them that had touched the black river, namely,
their mouths, the soles of their feet, and the palms of their
hands. The two who had crossed the black river, however,

102

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

were of a pure white colour. The two parties now travelled in
different directions, and when they had gone some way, the
white men were agreeably surprised to come across a large
house containing white wives for them to marry; while the
black men also found huts, or shimbecs, with black women
whom they married. And this is why some people are white
and some black.

XXVIII.

THE BIRD-MESSENGERS.

All the towns in Molembo or Ncotchi were suffering terribly
from the awful scourge or evil wind (the disease we know
by the name of small-pox). And the chief prince called the
princes and people together and asked them if it were not time
to ask Nzambi Mpungu why he was so cross with them ? And
they all agreed that it was so. But whom were they to send ?
They said that the Ngongongo was a wonderful bird, and could
fly in a marvellous way. They sent him with a message to
Nzambi Mpungu ; but when he got there, and cried out 66 quang,
quang, quang,” it was evident that Nzambi Mpungu did not
understand his tongue. So he flew back back to Ncotchi and
reported his failure.

Then Ncotchi sent the rock-pigeon (mbemba), but he could
not make Nzambi Mpungu understand, and he also returned to
Ncotchi.

Then the prince sent the ground-dove (ndumbu nkuku), and
she went and sang before Nzambi Mpungu :

“ ’Fuka Matenda ma fua
Vanji Maloango ma fua
Vanji Makongo ma fua
Sukela sanga vi sia.”

104

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJOR1.

(“ Mafuka Matenda is dead,

Vanji Maloango is dead,

Vanji Makongo is dead ;

This is the news that I bring.”*)

And Nzambi Mpungu heard what the dove had said, but
answered not.

* Mafuka means ambassador , and is a title given to certain rich natives.
Matenda is the name of a prince of KaCongo. Vanji is a title and has the
sense of creator , lord. The last line is a form expressing that one has
delivered one’s message.

XXIX.

NZAMBI MPUNGIPS AMBASSADOR.

Nzambi Mpungu heard that some one across the seas was
making people who could speak. This roused his ire, so that he
called the ox, the tiger, the antelope, the cock, and other
birds together, and after telling them the news, he appointed
the cock his ambassador.

u Tell the white man that I alone am allowed to make people
who can talk, and that it is wrong of them to make images of
men and give them the power of speech. ”

And the cock left during the night, passing through a
village about midnight, and only a few of the people got up to
do honour to Nzambi Mpungu’s ambassador, so that Nzambi
Mpungu waxed wroth, and turned the inhabitants of that
village into monkeys.

XXX.

WHY THE CROCODILE DOES NOT EAT
THE HEN.

There was a certain hen ; and she used to go down to the
river’s edge daily to pick up bits of food. One day a crocodile
came near to her and threatened to eat her, and she cried : u Oh,
brother, don’t ! ”

And the crocodile was so surprised and troubled by this cry
that he went away, thinking how he could be her brother. He
returned again to the river another day, fully determined to
make a meal of the hen.

But she again cried out : u Oh, brother, don’t ! ”

66 Bother the hen ! ” the crocodile growled, as she once more
turned away. “ How can I be her brother ? She lives in a
town on land ; I live in mine in the water.”

Then the crocodile determined to see Nzambi about the ques-
tion, and get her to settle it ; and so he went his way. He had
not gone very far when he met his friend Mbambi (a very
large kind of lizard). “ Oh, Mbambi ! ” he said, “ I am sorely
troubled. A nice fat hen comes daily to the river to feed ; and
each day, as I am about to catch her, and take her to my home
and feed on her, she startles me by calling me 6 brother.’ I

WHY THE CROCODILE DOES NOT EAT THE HEN. 107

can’t stand it any longer; and I am now off to Nzambi, to hold a
palaver about it.”

66 Silly idiot ! ” said the Mbambi, udo nothing of the sort, or
you will only lose the palaver and show your ignorance. Don’t
you know, dear crocodile, that the duck lives in the water and
lays eggs ? the turtle does the same ; and I also lay eggs. The
hen does the same ; and so do you, my silly friend. Therefore
we are all brothers in a sense.” And for this reason the croco-
dile now does not eat the hen.

XXXI.

THE THREE BROTHERS.

In the beginning, when KaCongo had still one mother, and the
whole family yet lived on grass and roots, and knew not how to
plant, a woman brought forth three babes at one birth.

u Oh, what am I to do with them ? ” she cried. u I do not
want them ; I will leave them here in the grass.” And the three
little ones were very hungry, and looked about them for food.
They walked and walked a long long way, until at last they came
to a river, which they crossed.

They saw bananas, and palm-trees, and mandioca, growing in
great quantities, but dared not eat the fruit thereof. Then the
river-spirit called to them, and told them to eat of these good
things. And the tiniest of the three tried a banana and found it
very sweet. Then the other two ate them, and found them very
good. And after this they ate of the other trees, and so grew up
well nurtured and strong ; and they learnt how to become car-
penters and blacksmiths, and built themselves houses. The river-
spirit supplied them with women for wives ; and soon they
multiplied and created a town of their own.

A man who had wandered far from his town came near to
where the three brothers had built their home, and was astonished

THE THREE BROTHERS.

109

as he approached it, to hear voices. This man happened to be
the father of the three brothers. So he returned to his town,
without having entered the village, to tell his wife that he had
found her children. Then the old woman set out with her
husband to seek for her children, and wandered and wandered on,
until she was too tired to go any further, when she sank down
by the wayside to rest.

Now one of the children of the three brothers came across the
old woman, and was afraid, and ran back to tell his father.

Then the three brothers set out with the intention of killing the
intruder ; but the river-spirit called out to them, and told them
not to kill her, but to take her to their home, and feed her, for
she was their mother. And they did so.

XXXII.

DEATH AND BURIAL OF THE FJORT.

One of my cook^s many fathers having died (this time, his real
father), he came to me with tears in his eyes to ask me for a
little rum to take to town, where he said his family were waiting
for him. Some days previously the cook had told me that his
father was suffering from the sleeping sickness, and was nearing
his end, so that when I heard the cry of u Chibai-i ” floating
across the valley from a little town close to that in which the
cook lived, I guessed who the dead one was, and was prepared
to lose the cook’s services for a certain number of days.

The death of the father of a family is always a very sad event,
but the death of the father of a Fjort family seems to me to be
peculiarly pathetic. His little village at once assumes a deserted
appearance ; his wives and sisters, stripped of their gay cloths,
wander aimlessly around and about the silent corpse, crying
and wringing their hands, their tears coursing down their
cheeks along little channels washed in the thick coating of oil
and ashes with which they have besmeared their dusky faces.
Naked children, bereft for the time being of their mother’s care,
cry piteously ; and the men, with a blue band of cloth {ntanta
mabundi) tied tightly round their heads, sit apart and in silence,

DEATH AND BURIAL OF THE FJORT.

Ill

already wondering what evil person or fetish has caused them
this overwhelming loss.

The first sharp burst of grief being over, loving hands shave
and wash the body, and, if the family be rich enough, palm-
wine or rum is used instead of water. Then the heavy body is
placed upon mats of rushes and covered with a cloth. After
resting in this position for a day, the body is wrapped in long
pieces of cloth and placed upon a kind of rack or framework
bed, underneath which a hole has been dug to receive the
water, etc , that comes from the corpse. A fire is lighted both
at the head and foot of the rack, and the body is covered each
day with the leaves of the Acaju, so that the smoke that hangs
about it will keep off the flies. More cloth is from time to time
wrapped around the body ; but, unless there are many palavers
which cannot be quickly settled, it is generally buried after two
or three wrappings. The more important the person, the longer,
of course, it takes to settle these palavers and their many com-
plications; and as the body cannot be buried until they are
settled, one can understand how the heirs of a great king some-
times come to give up the hope of burying their relation, and
leave him unburied for years. On the other hand, the slave,
however rich he may be, is quickly buried.

The family being all present, a day is appointed upon which
the cause of the death shall be divined. Upon this day the
family, and the family in which the deceased was brought up,
collect what cloth they can and send it to some well-known
Nganga, a long way off. The Nganga meets the messengers
and describes to them exactly all the circumstances connected
with the life, sickness and death of the deceased ; and if they
conclude that this information agrees with what they know to

112

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

be the facts of the case, they place the cloth before him and
beseech him to inform them the cause of their relation’s death.
This the Nganga sets himself to divine. After some delay he
informs the relations (1) that the father has died because some-
one (perhaps now dead) knocked a certain nail into a certain
fetish, with his death as the end in view, or (2) that so-and-so
has bewitched him, or (3) that he died because his time had
come.

The relations then go to the Nganga of the fetish or Nkissi
mentioned, and ask him if he remembers so-and-so knocking
a nail into it ? and if so, will he kindly point out the nail to them?
He may say Yes. Then they will pay him to draw it out, so that
the rest of the family may not die. Or the relations give the
person indicated by the Nganga as having bewitched the dead
man, the so-called Ndotchi (witch) , a powdered bark, which he
must swallow and vomit if he be really innocent. The bark
named Mbundu is given to the man who owns to being a
witch, but denies having killed the person in question. That of
Nkassa is given to those who deny the charge of being witches
altogether. The witches or other persons who, having taken the
bark, do not vomit are either killed or die from the effects of
the poison, and their bodies used to be burnt. Since civilized
government have occupied the country a slight improvement
has taken place, in that the relations of the witch are allowed
to bury the body. If events turns out as divined by the Nganga,
he retains the cloth given to him by the relations or their
messengers : otherwise he must return it to the family, who
take it to another Nganga.

While all this is going on, a carpenter is called in to build
the coffin ; and he is paid one fowl, one mat of rushes, and one

FUNERAL SHIMBEC.

To face page 113.

DEATH AND BURIAL OF THE FJORT.

113

closely woven mat per day. Rum and a piece of blue cloth
are given to him on the day he covers the case with red cloth.
Palm- wine, rum, and cloth are given to him as payment on its
completion. And now that all palavers are finished, and the
coffin ready, the family are once more called together ; and the
prince of the land and strangers are invited to come and hear
how all the palavers have been settled. A square in front of
the shimbec containing the coffin is cleared of herbs and grass,
and carefully swept; and here, during the whole night previous to
the official meeting, women and children dance. Mats are placed
immediately in front of the shimbec for the family and their
fetishes (Poomba) : the side opposite is prepared for the prince
and his followers; and the other two sides are kept for those
strangers and guests who care to come. At about three o'clock
guns are fired off as a signal that all is ready. The family
headed by their elder and spokesman then seat themselves ready
to receive their guests. Then the guests glide into the village
and make their way to the elder, present themselves, and then
take their allotted seats.

When all are assembled, the elder addresses the two family
fetishes held by two of the family. Pointing and shaking his
hand at them, he tells them how the deceased died, and all the
family has done to settle the matter ; he tells them how they
have allowed the father to be taken, and prays them to protect
the rest of the family ; and when he has finished his address,
the two who hold the fetishes, or wooden figures, pick up a little
earth and throw it on the heads of the fetishes, then, lifting
them up, rub their heads in the earth in front of them.

Then the elder addresses the prince and his people, and the

strangers who have come to hear how the deceased has died, and

114

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

offers them each a drink. When they have finished drinking,
he turns to the fetishes and tells them that they have allowed
evil to overtake the deceased, but prays them to protect his
guests from the same. Then the fetishes again have earth
thrown at them, and their heads are once more rubbed in
the earth.

And now the elder addresses the wives and tells them that
their husband has been cruelly taken from them, and that they
are now free to marry another ; and then, turning to the
fetishes, he trusts that they will guard the wives from the evil
that killed their husband ; and the fetishes are again dusted and
rubbed in the earth.

On the occasion that I watched these proceedings, the elder
got up and addressed me, telling me that my cook, who had
served me so well and whom I had sent to town when he was
sick, etc., etc., had now lost his father ; and once more turning
to his fetishes, the poor creatures were again made to kiss old
mother earth, this time for my benefit.

If a witch has to undergo the bark-test, rum is given to the
prince, and he is told that if he hears that the Ndotchi has been
killed he is to take no official notice of the fact.

Then the men dance all through the night ; and the next day
the body is placed in the coffin and buried. In KaCongo the
coffin is much larger than that made in Loango; and it is placed
upon a huge car on four or six solid wheels. This car remains
over the grave, ornamented in different ways with stuffed
animals, and empty demijohns, animal-boxes, and other earthen-
ware goods, in accordance with the wealth of the deceased. I
can remember when slaves and wives were buried together with
the prince ; but this custom has now died out in Loango and

PRINCE XIKAIA BY THE FUNERAL CAR OF HIS BROTHER, LINGUISTER FRANCISCO;

Shewing his Uncle’s body wrapped in cloth, ready for burial, and remains of the destroyed shimbec of the deceased.

DEATH AND BURIAL OF THE FJORT.

115

KaCongo, and we only hear of its taking place far away
inland.

The “ fetish chibinga ” * sometimes will not allow the corpse
to close its eyes. This is a sure sign that the deceased is
annoyed about something, and does not wish to be buried. In
such a case no coffin is made, the body is wrapped in mats and
placed in the woods near to an Nlomba tree. Should he be
buried in the ordinary wray, all the family would fall sick and
die. Should his chimyumba (KaCongo chimbindi) appear to
one of his family, that person would surely die. But others
not of the family may see it and not die.

The deceased will often not rest quiet until his nkulu (soul ?
spirit ?) is placed in the head of one of his relations, so that he
can communicate with the family. This is done by the Nganga
picking up some of the earth from the grave of the deceased,
and, after mixing it with other medicine, placing it in either
the horn of an antelope ( lekorla ) or else a little tin box
[nkobbi). Then seating himself upon a mat within a circle
drawn in chalk on the ground, he shakes a little rattle
(nquanga) at the patient, and goes through some form of
incantation, until the patient trembles and cries out with the
voice of the deceased, when they all know that the nhulu has
taken up its residence in his head. The medicine and earth
together with the nkobbi is called nkulu mpemba , and shows
that the deceased died of some ordinary disease ; but when the
medicine and earth are put into the lekorla it shows that the
deceased died of some sickness of the head, and this is called
nkulu mabiali.

* Chibinga is the state of a corpse which remains with its eyes open,
and is also the power, or nkissi, that is the cause of this affliction.

116

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT,

The Fjort say the u shadow” ceases at the death of the person.
I asked if that was because they kept the corpse in the shade ;
what if they put the corpse in the sun ? The young man asked
turned to his elderly aunt and re-asked her this question.
“ No,” she said emphatically, “ certainly not ! ” *

* Miss Kingsley writes as follows on this: “The final passage is an
unconscious support to my statements regarding the four souls of man.
The shadow dies utterly at bodily death; therefore it does not matter
whether the corpse is in the sun, or no, because the shadow it might throw
would not be the shadow of the man as he was when alive ; it would only
be the shadow of the dead stuff.” (See Folk-Lore , vol. viii., p. 144.,)

APPENDIX I.

BY MARY H. KINGSLEY.

NZAMBI.

En the preceding pages Mr. Dennett’s observations
have been given just as they have reached the hands
of the Folk-Lore Society ; but there are many more
of his observations on the religion of the Fjort which
have come into my hands, unfortunately in so scattered
a state that they cannot be given as separate chapters,
little fragments of a few pages only, paragraphs in
letters, and so on. Yet, as these fragments contain
much valuable information in themselves, and also help
in the understanding of much of the information he
has sent home from KaCongo and Loango in a more
connected form, I have collected some of them, and
give them here without any alteration of Mr. Dennett’s
words, except obvious and trifling errors.

I have explained in the Introduction that I regard
Nkissism as a school of the fetish form of thought,
and that I regard Mr. Dennett as the best authority

118

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

we have on this particular school of this great Nature-
Religion. The most important bit of work that he
has done for us in the study of Nkissism seems to me
to be his explanation of the word Nzambi in its inner
meaning. Mr. Dennett himself would probably not
agree with me on this point, and prefer to base his
claim to honour on his investigation of the inner
meaning of the whole Fjort language ; but, at present,
he has not sent up his observations in this matter in a
form that makes sufficient allowance for the ignorance
of the civilised world regarding that beautiful but
complex form of Bantu ; and, as the material Mr.
Dennett has sent home regarding the inner meaning
of the Fjort language is not printed in this volume, I
will confine my collection of supplementary matter to
Nzambi and the religion which surrounds her.

Mr. Dennett says in a letter of the 6th July, 1897 :

I have translated Nzambi as the Spirit of the Earth or Old
Mother Earth. But Anza is the River Congo, and so Anzambi
might well be translated the River-Spirit ; but this does not fit in
with Fjorts* explanation of Nzambi, who figures in their folklore
as the Great Princess, the mother of all animals, etc., the real truth
being that Anza, the river, comes out of the earth, Nsi. In Fjort
legends the river-spirits are legion, the name of the river and
the spirit being one, Anzambi then is the spirit of the River
Congo. All river-spirits appear to teach some lesson, physical
or moral. In one story you will see the river-spirit taught the

NZAMBI.

119

Fjort to plant bananas and manioc,* to forge iron and so on ;
and I have given you the real etymology of the word Nzambi
and its real meaning, which fits in with the ideas, with the love
of Mother Earth (Nzambi, mother earth) and this knowledge of
the Anzambi, River-Spirit.

Nsi the earth may be also translated as the Offspring of the
Beginner ; then we have the river-spirit of knowledge coming
out of the spirit of motherhood, which in its turn is the (N)
Offspring of the (isi) Beginner.

That Mr. Dennett is right in this matter I have no
doubt from my own investigations of important words
in other schools of fetish than Nkissism ; but that it will
seem clear to those who have not personally wrestled
with the difficulties of such words as Nzambi, or Woka,
I feel many doubts. I hope, however, Mr. Dennett
will soon be able to publish a full account of his long
study of the Tjort language, and that may make the
affair clearer. Of one thing I am very sure ; and
that is, that until we know the underlying meaning

* Bananas and manioc were introduced in Fjort culture by the Roman
Catholic missionaries, who first landed among the Fjort in 1490, but I
found Anyambie as a great god among the Mpongwe, but with them it is
not Anyambie, that is connected with knowledge, and with the river, and
sea, but Mbuiri (see Travels in West Africa , p. 228). The difference
between the Fjort and the Mpongwe in this matter is easily explainable,
for the Mpongwe did not receive, up any of their rivers, Roman Catholic
missionaries to the same extent and in the same manner as the Fjorts
received, via the Congo, instruction and new articles of food. The under-
lying idea, which is earlier than the introduction of manioc and bananas,
is identical. M. H. K.

120

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

of the languages of Africa, we cannot safely dog-
matise regarding the African’s religion. I do not
say that when Mr. Dennett does publish his key to
the Fjort alphabet, he and I will be found to agree
in all deductions ; because, although we both steep
our minds in black and agree in black, we, in our
white capacities, start from very different points of
view in these matters.

I now pass on to another fragment of Mr. Dennett’s
observations on Nzambi, wherein he says :

ABOUT NZAMBI.

It is the most difficult thing in the world at present, I think,
to get a clear definition of Nzambi Mpungu, or of Nzambi, from
the natives themselves in a direct way.

Some say that Nzambi Mpungu made the world and sent
Nzambi there, and that then he came down and married his
creation, and thus became the father of us all. And of course
we have distorted versions of the Creation according to the
Bible. God, we are told, made man and woman, and put them
in a large white house in a beautiful garden and told them not
to eat of the tree of shame. But before they took charge of their
house, thousands and thousands of rats trooped out of it. They
ate of the tree of shame, and when God called to see them they
were ashamed and dared not come out. And so forth.

Still the faint notion of a spirit that rules the rains and sends
the lightning, and gives them rainbows, exists ; and they call
that very humanised spirit Nzambi Mpungu.

CLIMBING A PALM-TREE FOR PALM-WINE.

To face page 121.

ABOUT NZAMBI.

121

But Nzambi, as the great princess that governed all on earth,
is ever in their mouths as a mighty ruler, and she seems to have
obtained the spirit of rain, lightning, etc., and to have buried it
in her bowels. The following is a little story that gives her a
human shape, and fixes her position as a mother :

Some women were busy planting in a country where water
was scarce, so that they had brought their sangas, containing
that precious fluid, with them. As they were working, a poor
old" woman, carrying a child on her back, passed by them,
hesitated for a moment, and then walked back to them and
asked them to give her child a cup of water.

The women said that they had carried the water from afar,
and needed it for themselves, as there was no water just
there.

The poor old woman passed on, but told them that they
would one day regret their want of charity.

Noticing a man up a palm tree, she asked him if he would
mind giving her baby a little palm- wine, as the poor little thing,
she was afraid, was dying of thirst.

“ Why not, mother?” he replied, and straightway came down
the tree and placed a calabash at her feet.

“ But I have no cup,” she said.

“ Nay, mother, let me break this spare calabash, and give the
child a drink.”

She thanked him, and went her way, saying : 66 Be here, my
son, at this time to-morrow.”

He wondered what the old woman meant ; but such was the
impression her words had made upon him, that he could not
sleep at all that night, and felt himself obliged, when the morrow
came, to proceed to the place.

122

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

u Surely this cannot be the place,” he said, as he came near
to the palm-tree where he had met the old woman. u There was
no water where the women were at work yesterday, yet surely
that is a great lake.”

66 Wonder not, my son,” said the old woman, as she approached
him, “ for thus have I punished the women for their want of
charity. See my son, this lake is full of fish, and you and all
men may fish here daily, and the abundance of fish shall never
grow less. But no woman shall eat the fish thereof, for as sure
as she eats the fish of this lake, so surely shall she immediately
die. Let the lake and its fish be Jcazila for women. For I,
Nzambi, have so ordered it.” Nzambi then loaded the young
man with many gifts, and told him to depart in peace. The
name of this lake is Bosi, and it is situated a few miles inland
behind a place called Futilla.

Another story proves to us that retribution is an attribute of
Nzambi :

An old lady, after some days’ journey, arrived at a town called
Sonanzenzi, footsore and weary, and covered with those terrible
sores that afflict a great number of the Negroes in the Congo
district. The old lady asked for hospitality from each house-
holder as she passed through the town ; but they all refused to
receive her, saying that she was unclean, until she arrived at the
very last house. Here the kind folk took her in, nursed and
cured her. When she was quite well and about to depart, she
told her kind friends to pack up their traps and leave the town
with her, as assuredly it was accursed and would be destroyed
by Nzambi. And the night after they had left it, heavy rains
fell, and the town was submerged, and all the people drowned,
for Sonanzenzi was in a deep valley, quite surrounded by hills.

ABOUT NZAMBI.

123

And now as the people of Tandu pass on their way to Mbuela,
and they look down into the deep waters, they notice the sticks
of the houses at the bottom ; and they remember that Nzambi
would have them take care of the sick, and not turn them
cruelly away from their doors.

From the following, one gathers that Nzambi is also a
judge :

Nzambi was in her town resting, when she was called to settle
a palaver in a town close to. She and her followers went, and
after the usual preliminary formalities, commenced to talk the
palaver. While they were yet talking, Nzambi heard the drum
beaten in her own town, and wondered greatly what the matter
could be. She sent the pig to see what the disturbance was, and
to find out who had dared to beat her Ndungu zilo, or great drum,
during her absence. But the pig returned, and said : “ Princess,
I did not see anyone in the town, and all was quiet and in order.”

“ Strange! ” said Nzambi, “but I distinctly heard the beating
of my drum.”

They continued the palaver until Nzambi again heard her
drum beating.

“Go immediately, 0 antelope! ” said Nzambi, “ and find out
who is beating my drum.”

The antelope went and returned; but he had not seen nor
heard anything. They continued the palaver, and just as they
drew it to a close, Nzambi heard the drum a third time.

“ Let us all go and find out,” said Nzambi, “ who has thus
dared to disturb us.”

They went, but saw nothing.

“ Hide yourselves in the grass round about the town, and
watch for the intruder ! ”

124

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

Then they saw the crab coming out of the water. Breath-
lessly they all watched him. They saw the crab creep stealthily
up to the drum and beat it. Then they heard him sing :

u Oh, Nzambi has gone up to. the top of the mountain, and
left me here all alone.”

Then the people rushed out of the grass, and caught the terri-
fied crab and dragged him to Nzambi.

And Nzambi rebuked him saying : u Thou hast acted as one
without a head, henceforth thou shall be headless, and shalt be
eaten by all men.”

According to another crab story, Nzambi had already given
the crab a body and legs, and promised on the next day to give
him a head. Then the crab sent invitations to all around to
come and see Nzambi place his head on. And when they had
all arrived, he was so proud that he could hardly walk straight.
But Nzambi rebuked him for his great pride, and told those
who were present that as a warning to them not to be self-
glorious she would not give the crab a head. And thus it hap-
pens that when the crab wrants to see where he is going, he has
to lift his eyes out of his body.

Nzambi Mpungu made the world and all the people in it.
But Nzambi had made no drum for her people, so that they
could not dance. Nchonzo nkila, a little bird with a long tail,
fashioned like a native drum that seems always to be beating the
earth, lived in a small village near to the town that Nzambi had
chosen as her place of residence. This Nchonzo nkila set to
work, and wTas the first to make a drum. He then called his
followers together, and they beat the drum and danced. And
when Nzambi heard the beating of the drum she wanted it, so
that her people might also dance. “ What ! ” she said to her

ABOUT NZAMBI.

125

people, u I, a great princess, cannot dance, because I have no
drum, while that little wagtail dances to the beat of the drum
he has made. Go now, 0 antelope, and tell the little wagtail
that his Great Mother wants his drum.”

And the antelope went to wagtail’s town and asked him to
send Nzambi his drum.

u Nay,” answered the wagtail, “ I cannot give Nzambi my
drum, because I want it myself.”

u But,” said the antelope, 66 the great mother gave you your
life ; surely you owe her something in return.”

u Yes, truly,” answered wagtail, 66 but I cannot give her
my drum.”

“ Lend it to me then,” said the antelope, “ that I may play
it for you.”

u Certainly,” said the wagtail.

But after beating the drum for a short time, the antelope ran
away with it. Then wagtail waxed exceeding wrath, and sent
his people after him. And they caught the antelope and killed
him, and gave him to their women to cook for them.

After a while Kivunga, the hyena, was sent by Nzambi to
see why the antelope was so long away. And he asked Nchon-
zo nkila what had become of the antelope. And Nchonzo nkila
told him.

“ Give me then some of his blood, that I may take it to our
mother, and show her.”

Nchonzo nkila gave him some, and Kivunga took it to Nzambi,
and told her all that had occurred. And Nzambi was grieved
at not being able to secure the drum. Then she addressed the
Mpacasa, or wild ox, and besought him to get her the drum.
But Mpacasa tried the same game as the antelope, and met

126

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

with the same fate. Kivunga came again, and was told by the
wagtail that Mpacasa had been killed by his people for trying
to steal the drum. Kivunga returned to Nzambi, and told her
how Mpacasa had tried to run away with the drum, and had
been killed. Nzambi grieved sorely, and would not be com-
forted, and cried out to her people, praying them to get her
Nchonzo nkila’s drum.

Then Mfiti (the ant) stood out from among the people and
volunteered, saying: “Weep not, 0 Nzambi, I will get the
drum for you.”

“ But you are so small a creature, how will you secure the
drum ? ”

“ From the fact of my being so small I shall escape
detection.”

And so the ant went out to wagtail's town, and waited
there until all were asleep. Then he entered the house where
the drum was kept, and carried it away unperceived, and
brought it to Nzambi. And Nzambi rewarded the ant and
then beat the drum and made all her people dance.

Then Nchonzo nkila heard the noise, and said : “ Listen !
they are dancing in Nzambi's town. Surely they have stolen
my drum.”

And when they looked in the house for the drum, they found
it not. So Nchonzo nkila became very angry and called all the
birds together ; and they all came to hear what he had to say,
save the Mbemba, or pigeon. Then they discussed the matter
and decided upon sending Nzambi a messenger, asking her to
appoint a place of meeting where the palaver between them
might be talked. And Nzambi promised to be in Neamlau's
town the next day to talk the palaver over before that prince.

ABOUT NZAMBI.

127

Then Nchonzo nkila and his followers went to Neamlau’s
town and awaited Nzambi. Two days they waited, and on the
third Nzambi and her people arrived.

Then Nchonzo nkila said : u 0, prince ! I made a drum and
Nzambi has taken it from me. It is for her to tell you why ;
let her speak.”

Nzambi arose and said : u 0, prince ! My people wished to
dance, but we had no drum, and therefore they could not. Now
I heard the sound of a drum being beaten in the village over
which 1 had set Nchonzo nkila to rule. I therefore first sent
the antelope as my ambassador to Nchonzo nkila, to ask him
for the drum ; but his people killed the antelope. I then sent
Mpacasa for the drum ; but they killed him also, as Kivunga
will bear witness. Finally I sent the ant ; and he brought me
the drum, and my people danced and we were happy. Surely,
0 prince, I who brought forth all the living in this world have
a right to this drum if I want it.”

Then Kivunga told them all he knew of the palaver.

Nenlau* and his old men, having heard all that was said,
retired to drink water. When he returned, Nenlau said : u You
have asked me to decide this question, and my judgment is
this : It is true that Nzambi is the mother of us all, but
Nchonzo nkila certainly made the drum. Now when Nzambi
made us, she left us free to live as we chose, and she did not
give us drums at our birth. The drums we make ourselves ;
and they are therefore ours, just as we may be said to be
Nzambi’s. If she had made drums and sent them into the
world with us, then the drums would be hers. But she did

Nenlau is a contracted form of Neamlau.

128

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

not. Therefore she was wrong to take the dram from Nchonzo
nkila.”

Nzambi paid Nchonzo nkila for the drum, and was fined for
the mistake.

Then both Nzambi and Nchonzo nkila gave presents to Nenlau
and went their way.

Thus, in this case, we have Nzambi brought down to the
level of the rest of the world, and judged by human laws. And
such is the native idea of their second divinity ; for while they
willingly give her credit for being the mother of all things and
full of all power, they cannot entertain the idea of her being
other than human.

NZAMBI’S DAUGHTER AND HER SLAVE.

Nzambi had a most beautiful daughter, and she took the
greatest care of her. As the child grew up, she was kept
within the house, and never allowed to go outside, her mother
alone waiting upon her. And when she arrived at the age of
puberty, her mother determined to send her to a town a long
way off, that she might be undisturbed while she underwent
her purification in the paint-house.

She gave her child a slave; and unnoticed these two left
Nzambi’s town for the distant place where the paint-house was
situated.

u Oh, see there, slave ! what is that ? ”

“ Give me your anklets, and I will tell you,” answered the
slave.

The daughter of Nzambi gave the slave the anklets.

NZAMBl’S DAUGHTER AND HER SLAVE.

129

u That is a snake.”

And then they walked along for some time, when suddenly
the daughter of Nzambi said : u Oh, slave, what is that ? ”
u Give me your two new cloths, and I will tell you.”

She gave the slave the two cloths.

<( That is an antelope.”

They had not gone far when the daughter again noticed
something strange.

u Slave, tell me what that thing is ? ”
u Give me your bracelets.”

The girl gave the slave her bracelets.

6 ( That thing is an eagle.”

The princess thought it wonderful that the slave should
know so much more than she did ; and when she caught sight
of a thing rising gently from the ground, she turned to her
again and asked : “ And what is that? ”
u Give me your coral necklace.”

The girl gave the slave the coral.
u That is a butterfly.”

The next time she asked the slave for information, the slave
made her change her clothes with her ; so that while she was
nearly naked, the slave was dressed most beautifully. And in
this fashion they arrived at their destination, and delivered
their message to the prince.

After the proper preparations they placed the slave in the
paint-house, with all the ceremony due to a princess ; and they
set the daughter of Nzambi to mind the plantations. In her
innocence and ignorance the daughter of Nzambi at first
thought all this was in order, and part of what she had to go

130

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

through ; but in a very short time she began to realize her
position, and to grieve about it. She used to sing plaintive
songs as she minded the corn, of how she had been mistaken
for a slave, while her slave was honoured as a princess. And
the people thought her mad. But one day a trade-caravan
passed her and she asked the trader where he was going, and
he answered : u To Nzambi’s town.”

u Will you then take a message to Nzambi for me.”

The trader gladly assented.

u Then tell her that her daughter is as a slave watching the
plantations, while the slave is in the paint-house.”

He repeated the message ; and when she had said that it was
correct, he went on his way and delivered it to Nzambi.

Nzambi and her husband immediately set out in their
hammock, accompanied by many followers, for the town where
she had sent her daughter. And when she arrived she was
greatly shocked to see her daughter in that mean position, and
would have punished the prince, had she not seen that he and
his people were not to blame.

They called upon the slave to come out of the paint-house.
But she was afraid, and would not. Then they entered, and
having stripped her of all her borrowed plumes, they shut her
within the house and burnt her.

Mr. Dennett also informs me that, in districts occu-
pied by Pjort south of the Congo, the high roads from
the sea to the capital town are called “the footsteps
of Nzambi.” We now pass on to the consideration of

NKISSISM.

131

the cult which has Nzambi for its central object,
namely the cult of Nkissism. Mr. Dennett says :

NKISSISM.

Nkissi means the mysterious power that is contained in plants
and herbs and earth, or, as we should say, the medicine or poison.
Hence it comes to mean any mysterious power — in short, a
mystery. The power of the hypnotiser is called Nkissi ; the
hypnotiser is called Ndotchi or Ndokki. The poisoner is also
called by this name. To explain the Great Something, the
unknown power that certainly governs the universe, has puzzled
the Fjort, as it has puzzled all others who have tried to dive
beyond the regions of certainty. But while others have reasoned
and sought after wisdom, Fjort has just put the whole matter
on one side, and called it Nkissi. So that it has not been a
search after wisdom so much as a severe letting alone. His
knowledge has come to him from his experience of a series of
hard lessons in every-day life.

He suffered pain ; fire burnt him ; water drowned him ;
without food he hungered ; sickness caused him pain, and death
followed sickness. He ascribed it to Nkissi. Herbs poisoned
some people, and herbs contained the power that cured others —
Nkissi. Here there was something visible that contained tbe
Nkissi ; that caused pain and relieved it. Whence this power ?
It grew with the trees and herbs out of the earth : Nkissi
nsi, the mysterious power that comes from the earth. Fearful
earth, or Nza-mbi, really, terrible firstborn, mother, or pro-
ducer. The earth is the father’s firstborn ; the father’s name,
Mpungu.

K 2

132

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

Thus have we arrived at the name the Fjort has given to the
Creator. He calls him Nzambi Mpungu, the Father of the
Fearful Firstborn, or Earth.

The Rev. Pere Alexandre Yisseq, in his Fiot Dictionary , under
the beading u Nzambi,” says it means u God, the Supreme
Being, Creator and Preserver of the Universe. The Negroes
believe in a Supreme Being who has made all things. According
to them, he is a great monarch who has a great number of
wives and beautiful children. He passes a happy existence in
the heavens, and scarcely troubles himself about us. As he is
not wicked, there is no use in their offering him sacrifices.
Below him there are smaller divinities capable of doing harm.
It is necessary to pray to them, invoke them and adore them.
God is not jealous of the worship people render to them,” and
so on. I think we need not pursue this definition any further.
There can be no doubt that the Supreme Being, Nzambi
Mpungu, and Nzambi, Mother Earth, are two separate and
distinct conceptions.

But we have another dictionary to appeal to, that of Mr.
Bentley, a Baptist missionary in the Congo. And his vast
knowledge of the natives and their language commands our
respect. He writes : u The root of the word Nzambi has not
been found in Congo. It is suggested by Mr. Kobbe in his
Huero Dictionary that in Kurunga, 4 Ndyambi ’ = God, and
Ndyambi is derived from Yamba, to present on a special
occasion, and connects it with Ndyembi, a reward, to which may
be allied the Congo Nzamba, a toll for a bridge or a ferry.
These suggestions can scarcely be regarded as satisfactory.”
So much for this authority.

But in the Tandu dialect of the Congo district, the word

NKISSISM.

133

Mpungu means Father in the sense of Creator. And in the
words : Nsusu, the young of a fowl, chicken ; Nswa, the child ;
Nsa, dependents ; Nsa Ka, the title of the heir apparent of the
throne of Congo; we have a root which, in each case, refers to
immediate offspring or dependence.

You will also learn as we proceed that Nzambi is talked of
as the mother of all things, the first daughter of the first father.
Nza, the earth, was the creator’s first creation. That the earth
that contained the Nkissi that poisoned or cured people should
have been called the bad (mbi) earth, in the sense of the earth
that is to be feared, is surely not a wonderful conclusion.

Hence Nza mbi, I conclude, first meant the Fearful First-born
and producer. Thus we have N kiss nsi, Nzambi’s spirit, mystery
in the earth ; Nzambi, the Fearful First-born of Mpungu, the
Father : a Trinity.

Mpungu, or, as he is more often called, Nzambi Mpungu,
the father of the Fearful First-born, is seldom invoked by the
natives. He is far above them. A father perhaps ; but do
not the children belong to the mother ? and is it not to their
mother and her family that they must look for assistance? The
line between the white man’s God and Nzambi Mpungu is a
very thin one. The Negro has got as far as natural religion
will take him, and admits that he knows little or nothing about
Him. He is willing to believe whatever the white man likes to
tell him. And thus we have Nzambi Mpungu, the father of
Nzambi, described to us in their mythology, or folklore, as a
human being — as a naked man. This idea has crept into their
minds through their having come across pictures of Our Lord
as he is painted dying for us upon the cross.

There is a man still living who declares that he was translated

134

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

to heaven and saw Nzambi Mpungu. He lives in a town not
far from Loango. He says that one day, when it was thundering
and lightning and raining very heavily, and when all the people
in his village, being afraid, had hidden themselves in their
shimbecs, he alone was walking about. Suddenly, and at the
moment of an extraordinarily vivid flash of lightning, after a
very loud peal of thunder, he was seized and carried through
space until he reached the roof of heaven, when it opened and
allowed him to pass into the abode of Nzambi Mpungu. Nzambi
Mpungu cooked some food for him, and gave him to eat. And
when he had eaten, he took him about and showed him his
great plantations and rivers full of fish, and then left him,
telling him to help himself whenever he felt hungry. He
stayed there two or three weeks, and never had he had such an
abundance of food. Then Nzambi Mpungu came to him again,
and asked him whether he would like to remain there always,
or whether he would like to return to the earth. He said that
he missed his friends, and would like to return to them. Then
Nzambi Mpungu sent him back to his family.*

I have said in the Introduction, that from historical
tradition and from internal evidence, it is clear that
Nkissism is a superimposed religion on the peoples of
Loango and KaCongo, and that I believe the religion
that was extant in these regions before the coming of
the sons of the king of Congo and the priests of the
Congo religion (Nkissism) was a religion identical

* This story was told to me by Antonio Lavadeiro, my linguister, or
head-man, at Bintamba, River Chiloango.

NKISSINSI.

135

in essentials with that which I had opportunities of
studying among the tribes of the Mpongwe stem
(Mpongwe, Ajumba, Orungu, NMmi and Igalwa) ;
and I may remark that among these tribes there is
not a priesthood apart, but the house-father is the
priest of his people. The following observations of
Mr. Dennett seem to me to have a bearing on this
point.

NKISSINSI.

And now it is that we come to Nkissi, the spirit, the power,
the mystery, that is contained in the Bilongo, or medicines, in
the earth, and trees, and herbs.

The father of the tribe carefully guarded one spot within
his domain, in which he planted a stunted baobab, or placed a
sacred stone, or a wooden image. Nails were not driven into
this image, and the place so set apart was sacred — sacred to the
mysterious power or spirit — and this was called his Nkissinsi.
He was father and priest, or Nganga, the man learned in the folk-
lore of his people. He it was who cured the sick, and instructed
the young by his wise words and stories. He, as the direct
descendant of Nzambi, ruled his people by that moral authority
that devolved from what he considered his God.

But as this family became great, it was ruled not only by the
father, but by those elders that he might select to govern certain
districts under him ; and these lieutenants in their turn appointed
others to govern small portions of their regency. And finally
Ngangas, or priests, men learned in folklore and medicine, were
sent to help these lieutenants, and thus the office of ruler and

136

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

priest, the effective authority and the moral authority, were
separated, although the elder still considered himself as high-priest
and ruler. The Ngangas became a class apart under the title ol
Zinganga Nkissi (Zinganga being the plural of Nganga).

These Zinganga developed Nkissism as time went on, and
instituted the Nkissi, or wooden image of a man or a beast
charged with medicines. The petitioner who wished to kill the
thief who had stolen some of his property, made the Nganga
an offering, and drove a nail into the image as he made his
request. Or the friends of the sick man would present their
offering to the Nganga of a certain Nkissi ; and he would present
them with some bracelet or amulet, Nkissi, charged with medi-
cine which he affirmed would certainly cure the sick man.

What a field was thus opened to unscrupulous Ngangas, and
how quick they were to avail themselves of their chance, we can
easily realise.

The Zinganga at last professed to be able to call down the
rain from heaven, and thus held the whole country in fear and
trembling while they filled their pockets with their peace
offerings; and they backed up their profession by wholesale
murder and poisoning of all unbelievers. They hypnotised the
weak, who thought that some evil Nkissi had possession of them,
until the patient's friends paid the Zinganga heavily to come and
cast out the evil spirit, or killed them as so-called witches.
They usurped the powers of the Elders, and cast off their
allegiance to their great Father, until the great kingdom of
the Bantu became cut up into innumerable petty sovereignties.

The month of February is sacred to Nkissinsi. This month
is called Muauda. The prince calls all his people before him and
addresses them ; they then clean the holy ground of all grass

NKISSINSI.

137

and herbs, and for the first fifteen days the people dance and
sing. On the fifteenth day all fetishes (Nkissi) are covered
up, and no one is allowed to touch an image until the new
moon appears again.

The day of the week upon which the prince calls his people
together to discuss any subject is called Nduka. Palavers con-
cerning dead people are talked over on the day called Ntono.

The Fjort has four days in his week: Tono; Silu; Nkandu;
Nsona, the fourth day, upon which the women will not work in
the fields, sacred to production and motherhood.

Touching those things which the Fjort regard as forbidden,
and which they call Xina (thina, or tchina), the youngest
resident amongst them must have noticed many of these Xina
Swine, which no prince will touch. In addition to these, the Fjort
regard all things that come from the sea and have not fins and
scales as forbidden, and also all eagles, crows, cuckoos, hawks,
owds, herons, bats, and snakes.

So long as he knows nothing about it he says he may eat
food out of unclean pots, but if lie knows that anything unclean
has been cooked in the pot in which his food has been prepared,
and he eats thereof, he will be punished by some great sickness
coming over him, or by death.

The rites of purification are numerous. After menstruation,
childbirth, or sickness, they anoint their bodies with palm-oil
mixed with the red powder called takula.

Lastly, I give a note of Mr. Dennett’s on the Nkissi
of the Musurongo. These Musurongo to this day keep
up their tradition for turbulence and miscellaneous
villainy with which the Roman Catholic missionaries

138

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

of the 15th and 16th centuries credited them. They
are the descendants of the people of u the Count of
Sogno.” I also venture to think that they are a
people upon whom Nkissism is a superimposed
religion ; but the superimposition of this religion
on the Musurongo took place prior to superimposi-
tion of it on the people of Loango and KaCongo.
We have, however, no white record on this point, but
it shows faintly here and there in the black tradition,
the Musurongo being frequently called u the bastard
tribe, or people,” and so on. Nevertheless, the infor-
mation Mr. Dennett gives of these Nkissi at the pre-
sent day is of such interest that I include it here.

The principal Nkissi, or wooden images, into which nails are
driven in this part of the Musurongo territory are :

Kabata, which is said to kill its victims by giving them the
sleeping sickness.

Nsimbi, that causes dropsy.

Quansi, that infests them with a ceaseless itching.

Then we have their rain -giver, or withholder, called Nvemba.

The Nkissist is robbed, and straightway he goes to the Nganga
of Kabata, with an offering, and knocks a nail into the Nkissi
(or fetish, as you are given to calling it) that the robber may be
plagued with the sleeping sickness and die.

Has he the sleeping sickness, the Nkissist goes to the Nganga,
and, perhaps, confesses his sin, and pays him to withdraw the
nail and cure him.

NKISSINSI.

139

It has not rained as it should have done ; then the prince
collects cloth and goods from his people to present to the
Nganga Nvemba; and they all go to the sacred grove, and having
made their offering sing and dance, and clap their hands and
shout for rain. The Nganga secures them this blessing if he
can ; but if he cannot, it is because someone has committed some
great act of indecency, or has broken some of the orders of
Nvemba — perhaps someone has been digging up the gum copal
and selling it to some trader. The fault at any rate is never
with the Nganga ; and some victim or other is pounced upon and
has to appease the wrathful Nvemba by either losing his life, or
that of a slave, or else by paying the Nganga.

But if the thief or sinner who has kindled the wrath of Nvemba
will not confess his fault, how then is the culprit to be brought
to justice ?

The Nganga Nkissi is not behind the sainted priests of our
own church in its infancy, and is privileged to proceed by the
ordeal of poison, fire, and water. And this again opens to the
unscrupulous Nganga a wide field for what is called priestly
jugglery, although I do not believe that the Ngangas, who in
their simplicity appeal to the interposition of the Great Hidden
Power, are necessarily impostors ; for they certainly are not.

What we will call the conscience, for want of a better
word, of people such as these KaCongos, who are still under the
power of a religion full of superstition, is peculiarly sensitive.
As then they fully believe that the Great Hidden Power will
expose them, is it a wonderful conclusion to arrive at that this
fear reacts upon their system ? The next time you are in fear
and trembling, just try to eat a mouthful of dry bread ; and I
think that after that you will be a step nearer faith in trial by

140 NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

ordeal than you are to-day, and that you will easily understand
how a native suffering from a guilty conscience, and dreading
discovery, standing in the presence of the Nganga. and the
people, when suddenly called upon to swallow a piece of dry
mandioco, may probably be choked in his terrible effort to do
so. And if fear acts upon the system in this way in this case,
why should we doubt its action in other ordeals ?

The swindling comes in when a rich sinner confesses his sin to
the Nganga, and bribes him to see him through the ordeal safely.
The Nganga promises ; and the sinner, no longer the victim of
fear, gets through the ordeal, even if the Nganga does not help
him. But the unscrupulous Nganga does often help by putting
a bean in the powdered bark, or casca, and thus ensuring
its rejection by the stomach, and by other tricks known to
him.

We know that St. Wilfrid built an abbey near Ripon, which
was destroyed by fire in 950, and that the privilege of ordeal by
fire and water was granted to this church ; yet we do not hear
people talking of St. Wilfrid as an old humbug. They give
him the benefit of the doubt, and call him a saint. And yet I
have no doubt that there were unscrupulous priests in those
days, quite equal in villany to the vilest Nganga Nkissi of
to-day.

But before a man is brought to his trial there must be some
evidence against him ; and this is supplied by the Nganga, who,
having gone through a process of divining, accuses the man
of being a poisoner, spell -binder, thief, or adulterer. Thus, a
person falling sick will not presume that his sickness is brought
about by his own folly, but rather concludes that someone is
quietly poisoning him. He therefore calls in a Nganga ; and it

PALAVERS.

141

is this man’s business to divine the evil-doer, or to tell the
sufferer that his sickness is a natural one.

I have often known my servants get up in the night after a
disagreeable dream and fire off their guns to drive the evil
power away, and the next day busy themselves by divining who
the person was that was trying to get at them.

I will close this collection of miscellaneous frag-
ments with an account Mr. Dennett gives of the
method of conducting a native palaver, a story that
shows in what respect the decisions of the law were
held, and a story showing the danger that is in
words.

PALAVERS.

It has struck me, as it must have struck all residents in Africa,
that the force of reason and logic, as illustrated in his many
palavers, plays no mean part in the life of the Fjort.

A discussion takes place between two natives which leads to a
quarrel. Each party relates his side of the question to some
friend, these friends enter into the discussion, but fail to settle
the question in dispute. A bet is then made between the two
in the following way : one offers the other a corner of his cloth
(a dress), and the other taking his knife cuts it off. Or a stick is
broken into two parts, each keeping his part until the palaver is
settled. The dispute is then referred to a prince, in whose pre-
sence it is 66 talked out.” This prince decides the matter, and is
paid for his trouble. This the Fjort calls u Ku funda nKana,”
that is to plead and circumstantiate a cause.

Palavers of the above kind of course are easily settled, but the

142

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

more serious questions, such as those of shedding blood and inter-
tribal dispute, are far more imposing and formal. It matters
not whether the tribes have had recourse to arms in their en-
deavours to settle the palaver ; no question is considered finally
settled until it has been properly and judicially talked out. In
wars of this kind the stronger may gain the day, but the
weaker, if not entirely annihilated, will bide his time, and bring
the palaver up again on some future and more favourable oc-
casion, and probably be successful in getting right given to him
after all. The palaver settled, the fine inflicted paid, the whole
question is closed for ever.*

The princes before whom the palaver is to be talked are
generally seated near the trunk of some wide-spreading, shade-
giving tree. The audience sit opposite to them — the defendant
and plaintiff and their followers on either side, the space left
being thus formed with a hollow square.

If the palaver is one of great importance, and the parties
opposed to each other are wealthy, they will employ their
pleaders or Nzonzi (who know how to speak). The plaintiff
states his case. The defendant states his. The simple hearing
of the supposed facts of the case may take days, for each has to
trace back the palaver to its origin. 66 If you want to catch a
rat,” says the Fjort, “ go to its hole.” Then the Nzonzi of the
plaintiff argues the case, showing that under each head his
party is in the right, illustrating his speech by well-known
comparisons, proverbs, truisms, and songs. The Nzonzi of
the defendant, on the other hand, takes up each heading and
argues against it. The followers on each side emphasize each

* This is common to all the West African tribes I know, and not con-
fined to the Fjort. M. H. K.

THE STORY OF A PARTNERSHIP.

143

conclusion drawn by the Nzonzi by repeating his last sentence,
by clapping their hands, or by joining in the chorus of the song
that the Nzonzi has sung to illustrate his case. If this song is
a stirring one and does not tell much either way, princes and
audience as well as both sides join in it until by a terrific grunt
the presiding prince silences the court.

This kind of thing goes on for many days, perhaps, until the
two have as it were talked themselves dry, then, after leaving
the court to drink water (as they say), the princes, having
decided upon the guilt of the litigant, return. The presiding
prince then, going through the counts once more, gives his
judgment. Song after song is sung, hands are clapped, and
telling words are repeated, until as the prince nears the end of
his discourse the whole court is led by pure reason to admit the
justice of his words and judgment.

Then a great uproar ensues, the last song is sung with
terrible enthusiasm, men jump up and twist themselves about,
dancing and waving their spears and guns above their heads.
The condemned is fined and given so many days to pay, or if
the punishment be death, he is immediately tied up and either
killed or ransomed according to his position. If the dispute has
been between two tribes, after the fine has been paid an agree-
ment is made between the two parties, and a slave killed, to seal
the compact.

THE STORY OF A PARTNERSHIP.

There were two partners in trade, but they were of different
tribes ; one was of the tribe of Mandamba, the other of that of
Nsasso. They were going to sell a goat. On their way to

144

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

market the Mandamba man said to the Nsasso man : u You go
on ahead, while I go into the bush ; I will tie the goat up here,
and catch you up shortly.”

u Ah,” thought the Nsasso man, “ he wants to give me the
slip.”

So he assented and went on ahead. But when he saw that
the Mandamba man had tied up the goat and gone into the
bush, he came back and took the goat, and sold it quickly.
Then he returned to the Mandamba man. They met, and the
Nsasso man asked the Mandamba man how it was that he had
been so long.

(< Oh, I have lost the goat,” he replied.

“ Well, how stupid it was of you not to have given me charge
of the goat while you went into the bush ! ”

u Let us go to the market,” said the Mandamba man, u we
may find the goat there ” (for a suspicion of what had occurred
crossed his mind).

“ Very well,” said the Nsasso man.

On arriving at the market they saw the goat in the hands of
a certain man.

66 Who sold you that goat ? ” said the Nsasso man.

u Why, you to be sure,” said the man.

u In truth then our partnership is at an end, for you have
grossly deceived me,” said the Mandamba man.

And they went before the king, Nteka Matunga, and the
Nsasso man said he thought the Mandamba man meant to play
him a trick.

“ Yes,” said the king, u perhaps he did intend to do so, as
you are of different families, and do not trust one another ; but
you did play the trick, which amounts to robbery.” The king

THE DANGER IN WORDS.

145

condemned the Nsasso man to be burnt, but he promised to pay
the price of his life to the Mandamba man, and the latter agreed
to receive payment, and thus the palaver was settled.

THE DANGER IN WORDS.

The Fjort, as we have seen, is quick to give a subtle meaning
to words that may have no evil significance. The following may
help to bring this force of words before you.

Kingolla one day went to Banana and came back to his town
in rather a happy state, and thus influenced he called upon his
sister Cha and said : 66 Keep up your health and strength and
look well after your children, they are of a great family, and
must live to prolong the race.”

u What can he mean ? ” thought the sister. u We are all in
good health ! ”

Next day one of the children fell sick and died. And Cha
told her father all that Kingolla had said, and how she feared
that he had bewitched her little one.

The father accused Kingolla of having poisoned the little
one.

Kingolla denied the charge.

“ Take casca* then,” said the father, iC and let God judge
between us.”

Kingolla took casca and vomited, thus proving his innocence.

I watched Kingolla’s career, and as it may interest you
to know more about him, I give you the following as a sequel
to the above.

Some time after this, Kingolla committed adultery with the
wife of a man named Lallu. Lallu caught him in the act,

* Casca, or cassia, or NKasa, the powdered bark of a tree.

146

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

and fell upon his wife, and stabbed her to death. Then the
father of the woman was very wroth with Lallu for spilling the
blood of his daughter, when by the laws of the land he (the
father) was willing to take his daughter back again and to pay
Lallu, not only what he had received for her, but also a sum
equal to the value of the food and clothing Lallu had given her
during the time she had been with him. Thus the father declared
war against Lallu and his family, and they fought. Now
Kingolla joined the side of the father, and was the only man
killed in that war.

Since the foregoing was in type I have received
Mr. Dennett’s notes on certain points raised in the
Introduction. Such of them as relate to Nkissism
and the allied subject of Kazila, or Xina, are here
inserted, at the risk of some repetition, since they
help us to form a clearer conception of those matters.

Nkissism is divided into four parts : 1. Nkissi’nsi (or Nkissi
anci) Earth or Nature ; Nkissi, with the king as high priest.
2. Nkissi, the wooden images into which nails are driven, with
their priests or Ngangas. This division may be termed Nganga
Nkissi. 3. Nkissi kissi, little fetishes, or family fetishes, with a
family Nganga. 4. Medicines, with their Nganga bilongo, or
medicine man.

The division here made by Mr. Dennett is interest-
ing, because, under the four fairly distinct schools of

NKISSISM.

147

Fetish existent in West Africa, you will find these
four divisions in the religion. I would prefer to use
the word departments , for the form of religion each
of these departments deals with is the same in essence.
The king deals with one class of affairs, the medicine-
man with another, and the private individual sees to
his home-fetish for himself. Mr. Dennett has called
the Nganga bilongo “ the medicine-man,” but this
term, I think, belongs more correctly to the Nganga
Nkissi. For the Nganga bilongo is the Fjort repre-
sentative of our apothecary, and is quite a reasonable
person in his way, and it is Nganga Nkissi who
represents that class to which the name u medicine-
man ” has been applied by European writers. Nganga
in Fjort, Mr. Dennett says, means Repeater, i.e. he who
repeats the secrets of native religion, family affairs,
or medicine, or, as I should say, those parts of religion
appertaining to these several things; for no Nganga
tackles all of them, but takes a department.

Mr. Dennett’s most important statement is on
Kazila, he says :

As it is pronounced to-day it might mean u no road,” and we
must remember that in old Portuguese ch had the force of k ,
and g had a sound between j and z. So Merolla’s 66 Chegilla ”
is evidently the same thing as the Kazila. But there is some-
thing uncanny about this word ; for some natives say it was
given them by the Portuguese, and if so, tea or he is simply a

l 2

148

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

prefix, and the word was giro, , which means gibberish or cant .
The Fjort cannot roll his r or put l in its place.

The native word (about which there is no doubt) for these
things forbidden is (s.) xina (for) Bina. It is xina to steal, to
murder, to sleep with a woman on the bare earth, and to eat a
certain number of food-stuffs. The punishment is not always
death. Sometimes the punishment for eating a forbidden food
shows itself in the culprit’s coming out in spots and blotches.
I know one family that will not eat pigeons, because that bird,
by scratching, let light into a cave in which one of the family’s
ancestors had been made a prisoner. Death is certainly not
necessarily the punishment for breaking one’s xina.

Merolla’s tale, which Miss Kingsley quotes in the Introduc-
tion (p. xxv.), proves that so long as the young Negro knew
nothing about it, he was u as right as a trivet,” and that it was
only when he was roughly told the truth that his fear and
power of imagination got the better of him and killed him.
That tale is incomplete, for, according to native law, the host
was the cause of the young Negro’s death, and it should end
up with : u and the relations of the young Negro fell upon
the host, and killed him, and the people said they had
done well.” Once the man knew that, even by acci-

dent, he had eaten his xina, he would notice something
was wrong, and he would go to the Nganga of the
fetish set apart for that particular crime, and get the thing
righted, or suffer sickness or death, as the case might be.
I grant Miss Kingsley that if a native gave another his
xina to eat, and that person died within a decent period,
he would feel he had murdered him ; so that when casca was
given to him to eat as an ordeal, he would die in almost the exactly

NKISSISM.

149

same way as that in which the young Negro in the story did.
All of which proves the terrible hold fear mixed with imagina-
tion has over the Fjort’s mind and stomach. A pot in which
any xina has been cooked is unclean for ever, as far as that
person is concerned, and no amount of washing will do. As I
have said, xina are general and particular. The pig is xina to
all royal blood ; the Ampa kala, or buffalo, to the Bakutu, as a
punishment to them for not listening to the words of Maloango ;
the antelope to a family round about Fahi, for refusing to give
water to a voice in the bush when asked for it ; fish of certain
inland waters to certain people, near Cabinda, for not giving
water to Nzambi and her child ; and so on. The Fjort believes
in the u voice that speaks,” and this voice (as the very soul of
man) is taken from the dead father and placed in the head of a
living relation, and it speaks to the dead man’s offspring, and
thus what was his xina becomes the xina of his offspring. This
is what the reverend fathers would call u conversing with the
devil.”

APPENDIX II.

FJORT SONGS.

The following songs and additional matter by Mr.
Dennett reached the Editor’s hands in letters after
the rest of the book was in type. As they contained
valuable illustrations of the native customs and modes
of thought^ it was determined to add them by way of
Appendix. Unfortunately the photographs of the
string of symbols and the mode of using it were in
such a condition that it was found impossible to
reproduce them. Mr. Dennett’s description, how-
ever, is so clear that their reproduction is hardly
necessary.

The Editor has to thank Miss Kingsley for
arranging the translation and explanation furnished
by Mr. Dennett of the Song of Hunger, and for
further elucidating some of its obscurities. His prac-
tice has been to give a translation of each word of the
song separately, and at the end of a line or phrase to
paraphrase the whole or translate it as closely as the

FJORT SONGS.

151

differences of idiom of Bantu and Aryan languages
permit. It was thought too tedious to reproduce this
procedure in the case of every song ; hence, in four
out of the five songs here printed, only the translation
or paraphrase of the entire line or phrase is given.
In the case of the Song of Hunger, however, Mr.
Dennett’s procedure has been retained, as an illus-
tration of the construction of the Bantu song.

The name given to the first of the following songs
is Miss Kingsley’s suggestion.

It should be noted that the symbol X stands
throughout for tch or dj .

THE SONG OF LIFE.

I now have the pleasure of enclosing two photographs,
representing, the one a string of symbols or headings of a
native song, and the other the boy singing the song from the
string.

The song itself and the string came from the Mayumba
district, i.e., that country to the north and east of Loango.

The string is composed of pieces of stick, shells, calabashes,
and skins and feathers strung together.

1st line. A piece of rounded stick about an inch long.

2nd ,, The shell of a peanut.

3rd ,, A piece of rounded stick with two notches in it.

4th ,, Two pieces of rounded stick (two wives of the dead repre-
sented by a small bundle of cloth).

5th ,, A piece of rounded stick (ximanga liambu).

6th ,, Two pieces of rounded stick (ngoma and mavungu).

152

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

7th

line

A piece of calabash (ntumbu).

8th

Two pieces of rounded stick (two women).
One little piece of mandioca.

One piece of husk of palm-kernel.

9th

One piece of rounded stick (one woman, JBuketi).

10th

, , , , with string round it (nganga nsassi).

11th

» „ (Buvali).

One piece of hollow wood for canoe.

12th

One rounded piece of calabash (sun).

One half-moon-shaped piece of calabash (moon).

13th

One short piece of round stick (two notches).
One small round stick (hammer).

One small bundle of cloth (Bisakala).

14th

One piece of wood in shape of cross supposed to represent man
with drum between his legs.

A very small piece of wood as drumstick.

15th

One round piece of wood (xivunda).
One smaller piece (son).

A bit of the leaf of Indian corn.

16th

A flat piece of wood representing bark of a tree.

17th

Round piece of stick with string round top (Nganga bi
yango).

18th

Round piece of stick, one notch (son).
Small piece of stick, drumstick (ngoma).

19th

Flat piece of stick like spoon (cease eating).

20th

Two little bits of stem of tobacco (pipe and tobacco).

21st

Small flat stick (xibala nganzi).

22nd

Rather long round stick with forked stick tied round the
top representing Father Makuika, a prisoner.

23rd

Small piece of pipe.

24th

Round piece of stick tied round the middle.

25th

Small piece of grass.

26th

Shell.

27th

Imitation of a comb.

Piece of wood like hand-mirror.

28th

Round stick tied to string f way up.

29th

Skin of Mpakasa.

30th

Tail of Ngumba.
Piece of skin.

31st

Piece of skin of big antelope (sungu).

32nd

Tail-feather of parrot (nkusu).

,, ,, pheasant (mbulu nkoko).

FJORT SONGS.

153

So much, then, for the symbols ; now for the song. One boy
holds one end of the string while the singer holds the other ;
then, as the latter sings, his fingers touch the symbols. He
sings a sentence, the other boy and the onlookers repeat it.

1. Xitini xinkondo xifumina ku Sundi. (Shoots of the silk-cotton tree
came from Sundi. )*

2. Lunguba lu nkuanji lu fumina ku Sundi. (And peanuts, which are
now so common also, came from Sundi. )t

3. Ma ngombi xinanga nquanga. (O, mother, ngombi dance the
nquanga.)

4. Xibaiia niombo bakanga vulubongo. (Tie up the corpse in native
grass-cloth.)

5. Ximanga liambu buna ku manga busu ku bititi. (The man who does
not wish to hear the word turns his face to the grass.)

6. Ngoma i Mavungu ba nkote mi kunji. (Ngoma and Mavungu
[Truth and Falsehood] are present at all palavers.)

7. N tumpunganga ntumpu ilanga ma bungu. (Tell us openly the
palaver you have hidden in your heart.)

8. Bilezi bixentu ku yolo, biyolo m’uenda ku lindaiia. (Two young
ladies after smearing themselves over with takula, or red paint, go to
visit their lovers.)

9. Buketi nkuendanga ku buala, keti nkuendanga ku buala kutanga
babota. (Buketi keeps on going to town, going to town [because she is
pregnant ; may she] bring forth her child well.)

10. Nganga Nsassi Kubela ku mbela. (Nganga Nsassi [Suami] is sick.)

11. Buyali ku buyali tuala ko nlungu, mino ku simika nlungu muana
ku banda. ([A man on the other side of the river shouts] “ Buyali,
Buyali, bring hither thy canoe [I want to cross this river].” [Buyali
answers] : “I am pushing my canoe along with a bamboo ; my child is at
the bottom of the river.”)

12. Ntangu mu luanda, ngonde ne bi sunji. (The sun is always
marching [as in a hammock], and meets the new moon on the beach.)

13. Nkubi nyundu ’mduda bi sengo, kududa, kududa, mioko u aka
nxienzo, bonga bi sakala u dudila bi sengo. (The blacksmith by beating
makes the hoe ; he beats and beats the iron until his hammer [too hot to

* And now fishermen in Cabinda, etc. , make their nets and floats from
its bark.

t Sundi is the grass country beyond the Mayomba district.

154

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

hold] drops to the ground. [Says his friend :] “ Take this bit of native
cloth to hold your hammer with, and go on beating the iron and make
your hoe.”)

14. Akubemba ndungu kubemba i xikonko. ([He addresses the
drummer:] “Take your drum and put it between your legs, and your
drum-stick, and beat the drum.”)

15. Xivunda xibuala xinkenia li sango, kukenia kukenia li eno li aka
nxienzo ; bikela muana mudidi ku manisia li sango. (When a man in town
is old and eats Indian corn, he leaves some corn on the cob ; and the corn
he leaves, his son is forced to finish.)

16. Lubalu lubaluka vi xifumba ? (How is it my family respect me no
longer ?)

17. Nganga biyango biyango ba sumuka. (Some one has touched my
birth-fetish [nganga biyango], and it has lost its virtue.)

18. Muana mbela ngoma mi ntomba. (My child is sick ; fetch the
ngoma [little drum.])

19. Bika i lia malandu e landu landu mabungu. (Let me eat malandu
[a fruit] and remember the whole palaver.)*

20. Sungu mu xi timba, liamba mu nkondo. ([Put] tobacco in the
pipe, liamba [hemp] in the calabash.)

21. Xibala nganzi balanga mabungu. (To think heavily, with a frown
on one’s forehead [nganzi], about the palaver).

22. Tata makuika bueka bonso mbi lilanga bueka ieka mu xivanga.
(Father Makuika, who is a prisoner, is saluted by his sons, and answers :
“ Don’t salute me ; can’t you see the yoke on my neck ? ”)

23. Nkonko xitumba bakulu bito babika. (An old pipe left by a rela-
tion must not be thrown away.)

24. Muamba sango ntiti bilongo. (Renowned muamba [yellow-tree] is
our medicine-tree.)

25. Xizika zika nzila nkulu ntu bititi. (Xizika [grass with great roots]
is the old man of the road [nkulu ntu = wisehead.])

26. Seve nganga sevanga mabungu. (The laugher hears good words and
goes on laughing. )

27. Kusimba xisanu ku simbuanga lu emueno. (When you comb your
hair, hold the glass before you.)

28. Xisinza mazila umananga milembo. (Stumps on the road keep on
damaging one’s toes. )

29. Mapakasa xinuaini ntuandi u tabuka. (The buffalo fights until his
head falls off. )

* The malandu is a fruit given to a man to give him the power of
remembering, and the will to speak all that is hidden in his heart.

SONG OF yHE BURIAL OF THE FJORT PRINCE. 155

30. Nzau e xilanga, ngumba imimbiekesi. (The elephant has a tail
[the hairs of which are a valuable ornament], the porcupine has spines.)

31. Sungu kulila mu binanga. (Sungu [the name of a very large kind
of antelope] eats on the top of hills. )

32. Nkusu mu nkunda, nbulu nkoko kuta nilolo. (The parrot perches
on a branch, the pheasant sings his song [ko, ko, ko, ku, ku.])

SONG OF THE BURIAL OF THE FJORT PRINCE.

It has been a very difficult matter to get the song together.
One cannot pick it up while they are singing it, for many of
the words are new to one ; and to sit out of sight, perhaps in a
cramped position, from 7 p.m. until 4 a.m. is no joke, and not
an aid to one’s work. To go openly to such a meeting means
either a disturbance of the peace or a change in the programme.
Then when one has got the rough part done and begins to ask
questions about the song, the native 66 fights shy.” He is
sufficiently accustomed to the white man’s ways to know that
he will not give him credit for being serious, and he does not
like his ways laughed at It needs a native (if he is a good
man) of great moral courage to tell a white man these things ;
and if he is a bad one he must be a great villain, without any
sense of respect for the white man he is conversing with, to
speak upon such a subject. It is greatly to the Fjort’s credit
that he is not worse and more degraded than he is, for he has
forgotten the deep meaning of the words he uses, which per-
haps would keep him pure in thought in the midst of his u wor-
ship ” (?) of maternity, or earth as the mother and bearer of all
things. Watching the Fjort at his burial ceremonies, and not
knowing the meaning of the words of his song, no one could
possibly detect the slightest sign of indecency. Some who, as
Chicaia said, had shame, wore the leaves of the mandioca
before their persons, and these were under the influence of

156

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

Christianity. Personally, the pure and unadulterated heathen
seemed to me the more decent of the two, naked as he was, for
he, like the half-naked stoker on board a steamer, struck me as
a man who had a certain work to do, and was not afraid to
do it. * * * *

The Fjort either destroys the house in which his late relative
dwelt after burial, or else dismantles it and sells the material to
some other family. He plants mandioca in the ground where
the deceased’s bed rested, so that people shall not build there
again. The wives sleep in the shimbec with the corpse, but
none of the family dare sleep in it after the burial of the
deceased, for fear of being considered his poisoner or be-
witcher. They fear a meeting with the ghost, or chimbindi,
of the deceased, for no one has been known to live more than
two days after having been beaten by one.

I took instantaneous photographs of the shimbec and coffin of
my cook’s father, whose death and burial I have related.

In my walks through KaCongo it was by no means a rare
occurrence to come across a place where orange, lime, and
mango-trees were found growing in a half- wild state ; levelled
terraces, raised foundations, and neglected mandioca planta-
tions clearly pointed to the fact that a village had once existed
there. Upon enquiry I found that these places had been
deserted, owing to the number of deaths from small-pox. This
is one of the reasons why a prince, although he may have a fine
house, generally lives in a small shimbec by the side of it.
This custom may also be one of the reasons why the Fjort is, as
a rule, so poorly housed, apart from the fear he has of being
considered a witch if he builds himself a substantial dwelling.

SONG OF THE BURIAL OF THE FJORT PRINCE. 157

If millionaires at home were as easily frightened by the
Socialists, where should we all be ?

Now for the song. It is past sundown, and the relations and
friends about to bury their chief are seated around the coffin,
that as yet does not contain the corpse. That relation who has
undertaken the burial now arises, and beating the coffin with
his hand, cries out :

1. “ Mpolo ku fu.” (Bene est mori et quiescere.)

Again he hits the coffin, and cries :

2. “ Mpola makata.” (Testiculi bene quiescunt.)

Again he beats the case, and shouts :

3. “ Mpolo xikolo.” (Cunnus bene quiescit.)

4. “ Mpolo msutu.” (Penis bene quiescit.)

5. “Ku fua nkulu u tuba bu ao.” (Et spiritus mortuus est et dicendi
facultas.)

Then the people there assembled take off their clothes, and,
after the chief mourner has sung the following verse, burst
forth in song, repeating the same words and tune time after
time.

1. “ Ku aba si tuli monanga.” (In olden days of the earth [these good
things] were often seen.)

The song is now changed to :

2. “ Basi uanda liboili banonga mpakala bikolo.” (Basi [the Basi, or
secret society] illius oppidi saccum virginitatum habent.)

This song is sung by all until they are tired of it, when
another one is given out, and so on.

3. “Bakakata boili umquenda o.” (The old folk of the town are all
dying.)

158

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

4. Auj4i ko u rata mikala abu uaka mkuta ’mpinda” (You did not
plant nor hoe, and now you have a basket of peanuts ; [where did you
get it ?].)

5. “ Neno uak’ili bulu msutu nako uvanga li bulu.” (Vulva cavea est,
quam fecit penis.)

6. “ Beno ni kufulanga nkossa ubilo nkeia kubenga nkossa kubengila
nyamu milenji.” (You are always asking about the lobster ; don’t you
know that its teeth [mouth] are misplaced, and that when you boil it, it
becomes red up to its hair ?)

7. “ Xilumbu xina xinquenda yaia masuella kwitekanga.” (The day that
my brother goes [dies] I keep on shedding tears.)

8. “ Ma mbamba* songa neno uvisia munu uaka enxienzo.” (Mam-
bamba, utere cunno bene, donee os ejus doleat.)

9. “ Abu Me makata mavia mbazu.” (Dum dormis, testiculi ardent).

10. “ Abu lel4 msutu mavia mbazu.” (Dum dormis, ardet penis.)

11. “ Abu lele xikoalo xavia mbazu.” (Dum dormis, ardet cunnus.)

Then comes the final part of this song :

12. “Una uku vena uli ku linda mayaka ma mona u liliobua.” (One
gives without being asked. The new mandioca one plants, another
eats.)

Then the people sing ordinary songs until the cock crows ;
then they put the corpse into the coffin. The wife of the dead
prince then places a small gourd into a 66 matet,” or basket,
and goes to the place she has been in the habit of going
to fetch water. On arriving there, she falls into the water
once, twice, three times, and her part in the ceremony of
the burial of the Fjort is at an end, and she is free.

When the wife has left the coffin, the chief mourner again
sings :

13. “ Mingenza monami kuluma tuenda Kamangot u fua.” (Young
man, my son, push and go ; Kamango is dead.)

14. “ Mueniyambi f ngulubu xina xikoada ku lia.” (Mueniyambi, they

* Ma mbamba is said by the Fjort to be the name of a man of old, and
to-day he attaches no meaning to the name.

t Kamango, they say, is the name of an old prince.

t Mueniyambi, another prince of old.

THE SONG OF THE SNAKE.

159

said, did not eat pig [but one day he asked them what it was he was
eating, and they had to admit that] he was eating the foot of a pig.)

Then the coffin is placed in the hole dug for it, and the earth
is heaped up over it by willing hands ; and as the Fjort throws
the earth upon the coffin, he murmurs :

“ Bakulu * vandu vandu.” (People of spirit-land, be at rest, be at rest
[and don’t bother the people of this world].)

THE SONG OF THE SNAKE.

1 . Sanguila mboma kumina muntu.

2. Mbelli sandangu nkambu ku vonda muntu.

3. Aula mani Zinga bazolila muliambu.

4. Bakana + ku vonda, ba vonda kua u —

5. Macosso muana Danka banzola maka lilanga.

1. [Si quis, in oppidum cum venerit, dicat] anguem parvulum
hominem devorasse, [nemo ei credat. Sic Fjort cum primum
de paederastia audivisset, non verum esse credidit.]

2. [Ut inter saltantes opus est] cuivis cultro, quo nescio quern
[illudentem] occidat: [sic Fjort, cum primum audivisset aliquem
hoc facinus, in se admisisse, cultrum desideravit, quo eum occi-
dere].

3. Filius Zingae, [cujus facies velut] gum-copal [pulchra erat],
paederastiae deditus erat.

* Bakulu — NTculu , as I have already described to you, is that part of
the dead which the Fjort says can be placed in the head of a living
person ; Ba, Bantu people ; Kulu, perhaps soul, spirit. The Fjort say
that the Bakulu are invisible and that they cannot see one another ; but they
contradict themselves, for on referring to my notes I find that when a man
wishes to become rich, he obtains a fetish, or nkissi, called Buti, and when
a man who has obtained this fetish dies, his nkulu ties up other Bakulu,
and places them in the corner of some shimbec, and keeps them there.

t Zinga means the long-lived; Bakana, the calculator , the man of
thought .

160

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

4. Bakana [eum] occidere [voluit, et filius Zingae respondit:]
Occide [me, si vis, at ego in flagitio pergam].

5. Macosso, puer Dankee [albi hominis] dominum amabat, [et
quum hie in Europam abiisset] non desiit lugere].

THE SONG OF LOANGO WOMEN.

1. Munu u li vumba lelo u xinda ku vata mama.

2. Muango ma woho ba li akn bunkuela anjea ku kuela
mpe.

3. Ku simba va nxenzo, ku simba va ku bella, malongo,
malongo mabila nkumbu.

4. Minu uali aku mama.

5. Ndumba buala lelo uiza muinhi.

6. Suaka esesi lelo xinda ku sala.

7. Minu uali aku mama

8. Zimvula ziamana.

1 . Tu mater cui os est magnum, multum serere debes.

2. Tu qui permultum saltas [nuptae mulieres dicunt] desine
saltare, et nube tu quoque.

3. Mulier salax, quae hue illuc (multa loca) visitat, sed si
quando cum ea vis coire, morbum nescio quern semper pro
excusatione habet.

4. Forsitan quae propria sint tibi palam faciam, 0 mater.

5. Meretrix in urbem interdiu venire solet [dum nuptae
mulieres in villa restant] .

6. Gracilis mulier opus suum bene perficit.

7. Forsitan [etc., ut supra (4)].

8. Imbres cessant [id est, hoc carmen de mulieribus, quae per
imbres serunt, finitum est].

THE SONG OF HUNGER.

161

THE SONG OF HUNGER.

1. Xissanga e Buali bi koka mti

2. Muanyali ba nlambili xikamvu

3. Xinkatu nkatu manyonga

4. Lembe li Ngongo ngeia tubanga

5. Tubanga minu i lembo

6. Xilunga e Quillo bi koka mti

7. Xilunga uaka xi nanu

8. Nzala nguli yalla tanta

9. Ndevo nkunda mbongo

10. Bemvena madungo masina mbinda

11. Zimvula zi Maloango ziaku zimani

12. Xilumbu mfuafua minu kuxibota.

1. Xissanga , a province of Loango ; e, and ; Buali , another
province of Loango ; hi, they ; koka, drag ; mti , a tree.

Explanation. — In these provinces the people are dying
of hunger, and are therefore making new farms in the
Fjort way, clearing forest and dragging about the trees as
a sort of rough ploughing.

2 & 3. Muanyali , proper name meaning the first stage of
pregnancy ; ba nlambili , cooked ; xikamvu , large basket used
for carrying food ; Xinkatu , mat on which food is served ;
nkatu , mat ; manyonga , to feel bitterly in one's heart.

Muanyali gets a large basket and a mat of the right
kind, and cooked food, and is angry that the basket and
the mat are all right, the food is properly cooked, but
there is not enough. This is a common African way of
indirectly saying disagreeable things or telling you what
they dislike in a thing. u This is right,” they say, “ and

162

NOTES ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE FJORT.

that is right ; ” and they expect you to know what is
wanting. It is as if they set you a subtraction sum :
given the total, you deduct what is praised, and the
difference is what is disliked. If you don’t arrive at it,
you are a fool, and it is no use talking to you.

4 & 5. Lembe (the name given to a wife married according
to the rites of Lemba, i.e., the wife, properly so called, who
binds herself not to survive her husband), the wife of Muanyali;
li ngongo (a large fish-eating bird — a pelican), proper name ;
ngeia , thou ; tubanga , talk ; minu , I ; lembo, cease.

Muanyali’s wife, Lembe, asks her father, Mr. Pelican,
to explain to her husband why she has not been able to
send him more food. She says to her father: “ You talk
to him about it; I cease from telling him.” That is, it is
no good my telling him, he thinks I could send more if
I chose. Then off goes Pelican to his son-in-law, and
says :

6 & 7. Xilunga e Quillo bi koka mti , Xilunga and Quillo
are dying of hunger (details explained above) ; Xilunga , a
province of Loango ; uaka , now ; xi nanu , is far away.

I think this means : “ We who live in Quillo (a province
of Loango) can get nothing, even if we go to Xilunga,
because that is famine -stricken too.” I know, xi nanu ,
far away, is often used as a description of a place not worth
going to.

8. Nzala , through; nguli , mother; yalla , hunger; tanta ,
pain.

iC The thought of the hungered mother pains them.” Peli-

THE SONG OF HUNGER.

163

can throws this observation in, meaning Xilunga and Quillo
grieve for their hungering mothers.

9. Ndevo , beard; riknnda , elephant’s tail; mbongo , money.

I think Pelican throws out a suggestion that a man
named Ndevo nkunda is a rich man, and should be asked
for aid ; u money,” of course, not being necessarily coin,
but possibly in this case food.

1 0. Bemvena , efficiunt ; madungo , testiculos tumefactos ;
masina , fundum ; mbinda , cucurbitae.

Mulieres viros ita elephantiasi afficiunt, ut testiculi
ventri cucurbitae similes hunt. (A statement not made
in the interest of medical knowledge, but connected in
the African mind with the rainfall, and having a definite
bearing on what falls.) Pelican is still speaking.

11. Zimvula , rain ; zi Maloango , as in the days of Maloango;
ziaku , they ; zimani , are finished.

6t Now we no longer get the rains we had in the days of
Maloango.”

12. Xilumbu , day; mafuafua , die; minu , I; kuxi bota , to
be well.

“ I shall be well cared for the day I die I shall be well
buried. That is, I wish I were dead. This is the final
lament of poor Pelican.

INDEX

Adultery, see Crimes, Sexual Relations
Agriculture, xx., 18, 19, 161
Ajumba tribe, x.

Alfonso I., King of Congo, xxii.
Ambassador, Story of Nzambi Mpun-
gu’s, 105

Amulets, 136, see Charms, Spells
Angola, xvii., xxi.

Expulsion of priests from, xx.

Angoy, Kingdom of, xv., xxiv., 2

successor to the throne of,

always put to death the next day,
xxxii.

Animals, Helpful, 7, 36, 74, 103, 126
Animals, lower, spoken of as human
beings, 3, 10, 1 1

stories of, 35, 69, 71, 74, 77,

82, 85, 90, 94, 98, 106, 123, 124
Antelope and the Leopard, story of
the, 71

story of the Rabbit and the,

in other stories, 77, 82, 123,

125

Anyambie, god of the Mpongwe, 119

Bafan, The, vii.

Balloon, stoiy of Ngomba’s, 49
Bantu, religion, xiii.

tribes, xxxi.

Barbot, vi.

quoted, xiv.

Bastian, Dr., iii.

Battel, Andrew, cited, xvii.

Bavili, tribe of Fjorts, xix., xxxi.
Benin, Bight of, vii., xiii.

Benito, River, vii.

Bimbindi, spirits of the dead, 11, 115,
156

stories of, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16

Bingo, rites of, 4
Bird-messengers, story of the, 103
Birth customs and superstitions, 19,
137

Black, Why some men are white,
others black, 18, 101
Boma, 5, 11
Bombangoij, city, xv.

Boomba, form of marriage, 72
Bosi, see Mbosi
Bosman, vi.

Bride-wagers, 35, 74

incident of the Supplanted, 128

Brother who knew more than the
elder, story of the younger, 65
Brothers, story of the Twin, ii., 60

story of the three, 108

Brue, Sieur, vi.

Buchholz, iii.

Burial customs and superstitions, 22,
23, 55, 110, 155

places. 5

song, 155

Burton, Sir R. F., ix.

Cabinda, port in Angoy, xvi., xx.,
xxiv., 5, 94
Calabar, people, xxvi.

Cameroons, xiii.

Cannibalism, xiv.

Cao, Diego, discoverer of the Congo,
xvii.

Capuchin Fathers, adventures of two,
xiv., xvi.

Missionaries, allies of the

Portuguese, xvi. . xxiii.. xxiv.

Casca, use of, 17, 23, 48, 92, 140, 145
Cat and the Gazelle, story of the Wild,

INDEX.

165

Charms, use of, 4, 6, 9, 10, 17, 20, 60,
115

Chegilla, see Kazila
Child, story of how Kengi lost her,
58

story of the wonderful, ix., 56

Chimbindi, see Bimbindi
Chimpanzee and Gorilla, story of the,
69

Chimpanzu, river and spirit, 5
Christian influence in native religion,
xxi., 120

Circumcision, 4, 20
Clouds, beliefs as to, 7
Coffin, see Burial
Congo Beige, xxi.

Eran9ais, viii.

Congo, Kingdom of, xiii., xiv., xvii.,
xviii., xxiii.

extent of, in 1875, xxi.

kings of, xxi., xxii., and see

Fumu Congo

natives of, xxv.

River, vii., xiv., xviii., xx., 1,

4, 118

discovery of xvii., xviii.

Islands in, 5

Coronation of prince, xxxii., 4
Creation, no legends of the, 18

stories of the, 120, 124, 127

Creator, see Nzambi Mpungu
Crimes, criminal procedure and punish-
ments, xi., xix., xxviii., 16, 21, and
see Justice

in tales, 48, 54

Crocodile does not eat the Hen, story
of why the, ix., 106 ; cited in
pleading, xi., xii.

story of the Leopard and the,

Crocodiles and witchcraft, xxix, 5
Culture-legends, 18, 118

Dead, festivals in honour of the, 24
Death-customs, see Burial
Debt, almost universal, 22
Deities, West African, xix., and see
Anyambie, Earth, Fetish, Images,
Mbuiri, Mongo, Nkissi nsi, Nzambi,
Nzambi Mpungu, Rain-giving god,
Sunga

Travelling, disguised, 121,

122

Dennett, R. E., i., viii., ix., xviii.,
xix., xxiv.

Dennett, R. E., Notes by, on Intro-
duction, xxxi.

Notes by, on Appendix

I., 146

Opinions of, on Nkis-

sisra, discussed, xii., xiv., 118, 147

Statements by, on

Kazila, discussed, xxvii., xxviii.
Descent into Hell, ii., and see Brothers,
The Twin

Difficulties of collecting and interpret-
ing West African folklore, ii., 119
Divination, 16, 111, 140
Dondo in Angola, xvii.

Dreams, influence of, 17, 141
Drowning, rescue from, 8
Dutch break up Portuguese power in
Congo, xxiii.

Earth, Mother, 4, 118, 119, 131, 132

Spirit, 5, 118

Eggs, not eaten, xxix.

Ellis, Col. A. B., ix.

Ewe-speaking peoples, ix., x.
Exorcism, 17

Fan tribes, x.

February sacred to Nkissi nsi, 136

Festivals, 24, 137

Fetish, in tales, 43, 60, 88, 94, 96

of Chilunga, story of the, 96

religion, xiii., xiv., xviii., xxi.,

134

rites and belief, 2, 3, 9, 11, 96.

112, 113, 115, 135, 136, 146, 159

Sunga punished my great-

uncle’s twin brother Basa, story of
How the, 88

Fetishes, story of the Fight between
the Two, 94

Fire, descent of, ii., 7, 74

legend of the first use of, 18

Fish and fishermen, 8, 19, 25, 49, 88
Fjort agriculture, 19, 161

beliefs, 10, 18

language, 118, 119

religion, xviii., xx., xxi., xxii.,

xxx., 1, 117
songs, 150

tribes, xviii., xix., xxxi., 1, 119

Flemish missionaries, xiii.

Fool, story of the Smart Man and the,
25

Forests, superstitions as to, 9
Franciscans, xvi., xxiii.

French rule, xxi.

166

INDEX.

Friends who quarrelled, story of the
Two, 31

Fumu Kongo, King of Congo, xii.,
xiv., xvi., xvii., xix., xx., xxi.,
xxxi., 1, 2, 10, 134
Fumu, meaning of, xxxi., 1
Funeral, see Burial
Funzi, form of marriage, 20, 72
the Blacksmith, 7, 18

Gaboon people, xxvi.

Gagas, cannibal tribe, xvii., xxii.
Gangas, see Ngangas
Gazelle and the Leopard, story of the,
82

got married, story of How the,

story of the Wild Cat and the,

Gindes, see Gagas
Gold Coast, xxi.

Goldie, Rev. H., v.

Gorilla, native name for, 3

story of the Chimpanzee and,

Gum-copal, 19, 139, 159

Heaven, journey to, 74, 133

Hell, descent into, ii. , and see Brothers

Hen, see Crocodile

Hospitality, want of, punished, 121,
122

Hunger, song of, 150, 161
Hunters and hunting, 18, 19
Husband, story of the Wicked, 54, and
see Wife

Ibet, see Kazila

Images, 2, 4, 9, 1 12, 113, 135, 136, 138,
146

Imbuiri, see Ombuiri
Industries, see Agriculture, Fish, Hun-
ters, Iron, Manufactures, Pottery
Iron and other smiths’ work, xx., 18,
19

Italian missionaries, xiii.

Ivili, see Bavili
Ivory coast, xxi.

Jesuits, xx., xxiii.

Joao II., King of Portugal, xxii.
Johnston, Sir H. H., xiii.

Justice, administration of native, xi.,
141, and see Crimes ; in tales, 48, 55,
59, 126, 141, 144

Kabinda, see Cabinda
Ka-Congo, family of, 108

King of, xv., xvi., xvii., 2,

21, 22, and see Fumu Kongo

province and people of, viii.,

xii., xiii., xiv., xvi., xvii., xviii.,
xix., xx., xxi., xxiii., 1, 7, 94, 114,
139

Karkola River, iii.

Kazila, explained, xxvi., 137, 147

instances of, xxix., 10, 122, 148

Merolla’s account of, xxv.,

xxviii.

Kengi lost her child, story of How, 58
King of Congo, xxi., and see Fumu
Kongo, Alfonso I.

Kingsley, Miss, adventure on the Kar-
kola River, iii.

Kinsembo, 1
Kongo, see Congo

Lake formed to punish want of hospi-
tality, 121, 122

Languages, necessity of studying Afri-
can, v.

Law, Doctrine of Native, that igno-
rance is not to be punished unless
culpable ignorance, xxviii.

Examples of Native : how an

injured man obtains help against
his enemies, iii. ; in tales, 48, 55,
59, and see Crimes, Justice
Lemba, or Lembe, form of marriage,
20, 72, 162

Leopard and the Crocodile, story of
the, 98

killing a, 80

punished the turtle, How the,

story of the Antelope and

the, 71

story of the Gazelle and the,

the royal animal, beliefs and

practices as to the, 9, 80
Life, restoration to, folktale incident,
33, 64

song of, 151

story of How the wives restored

their husband to, 33
Lightning, superstition as to, 7, and
see Funzi

Lion in love, folktale incident of the,
71

Literature, branches of native oral, ix.
Loanda, xx.

INDEX.

167

Loango, province and kingdom of, xii.,
xiii. , xiv., xvi., xvii., xviii., xix.,
xx.,xxi., xxiii., 1, 2, 11, 22, 114, 162

population, xxxi.

women, song of, 160

Loango Luz, River, 21
Locusts, 11
Loge, River, 1
Lulondo, River and spirit, 6

Mafumu, title of under-kings of pro-
vinces, xxxi., 2

Makongo, king of Congo, xvii., xxxii.
Malandu, fruit, use of, 154
Maloango, 21, 163
Man, story of the turtle and the, 77
Manifumu, see Mafumu
Manufactures, xx., 19
Marriage customs and superstitions, 20,
72

forms of, 20 72

Mayumba district, 151
Mbosi, Lake, 10, 122
Mbuiri, god or spirit of the Mpongwe,
119

Mbunzi, the south-west wind, 10, 11
Medicine and medical practice, 4, 9
Medicines, see Amulets, Charms,
Spells

Medusa-witch, folktale incident of
the, 60

Men, difference in colour of, how
caused, 18, 101

Merolla, quoted, xv., xxiii. , xxv.
statement of, on Chegilla, dis-
cussed, xxviii., 147
Mfuzi, the blacksmith, 7, 18
Milk of animals, not drunk, xxix.
Missionaries as authorities on African
folklore, iii., v.

influence of, on native

religion, xxi., 119

reports of, xiii., and see

Roman Catholic
Mlomvu, River and spirit, 6
Mohammedan influences in native
religion, xxi.

Mongo, mountain, xix.

legends of, 5

Monkey Island, 5
Monteiro, J. J., quoted, xx.

Month, division of the, 8
Moon, legend of the, 6

new, ceremony, 7

Mpongwe-speaking tribes, xix., 135
gods of, 119

Mpungu, meaning of, 3
Mungo, see Mongo
Musurongo, xxxii., 137
Nkissi of the, 138

Names, of natives after animals, 9

secret, 35

Nassau, Rev. Dr., v., x., xxix.
Nature-spirits, see Deities
Ncanlam, chief of the Musurongo,
xxxii.

Ndotchi, poisoner and witch, 16, 112,
114, 131, and see Witch, Witch-
craft

Negro religion, xiii., xiv., xxv., xxvi.
Ngangas, xii., xiv.. xviii., xx., 2, 9, 12,
16, 17,23, 111, 112, 135, 136, 138,
139, 140, 146

classes of, 2, 4

Ngoio, a rain-doctor, xxxii., 2

native embassies to, 2, 11

Ngomba’s balloon, story of, 49
Nguuie River, xix.

Niari River, xxii.

Niger Coast Protectorate, vii.

Company, Royal, vii.

River, vii., xxi.

Nkissi and Nkissism, xii., xiii., xiv.,
xviii., xx., 1, 2, 4, 9, 18, 112, 115,
117, 119, 131, 134, 136, 137, 138,
146

Nkissi nsi, spirit of the earth, 1, 2, 3,
133, 135, 136
Ntandu dialect, 3
Nzambi, ii., 117
cult of, 3

drum of, story of the, 123, 124

footsteps of, 130

in stories, 2. 7, 18, 60, 74, 106,

120, 121, 122, 123, 128

introduction of the cult of, xii,

meaning of name, 2, 118, 131.

133

stories of, their value, ix.

Nzambi Mpungu, the Creator, 2, 3, 18,
120, 124, 131, 132, 133

causes tides, 9

: — his fire stolen, 7

in stories, 74, 103, 105

Nzambi Mpungu’s ambassador, story
of, 105

Nzambi’s daughter, story of How the
spider won and lost, 74

marriage of, 60,

128

168

INDEX.

Offerings, see Sacrifices
Ogowe, River and district, xiii., xix.
Ogre, in tales. 50, and see Bimbindi
Oil rivers, xiii.

Okanda River, xix.

Ombniri, supernatural being of Mpon*-
gwe tribes, xix., xx., 119
Omens, 8

Ordeals, 17, 23, 48, 92, 112, 114, 139,
140, 145

Oroungou country, iii.

Orunda, see Ivazila

Otberworld, journey to, 133, and see
Heaven, Hell

Paint-house, 4, 20, 22, 50
Palavers, see Justice
Partnership, the story of a, 143
Pelican, 162
Philtres, 17

Pillars of clay, human beings trans-
formed into, 5
Pleading, see Justice
Poisoning, crime of, xxviii., 16, 17,
and see Ndotchi
Polygamy, see Marriage
Ponta da Lenha, 4
Pottery, 19

Protuguese, discovery of Congo by the,
xiii., xvii.

missionaries, xiii., xvii

navagators, early, xiii.

political power and in-
fluence of the, xvi., xvii., xx., xxi.
xxii., xxiii., xxx.

Priesthood, 135, and see Ngangas
Prohibitions, see Kazila ; in tales, 40,
43, 62

Prometheus, see Pire
Proverbs, Native African, examples
of, 27, 142

importance of, ix.

Proyart, Abbe, quoted, xvi.

Puberty, rites of, 4, 20, 22, 128
Purification, rites of, 137, 158

Quillo, province of, 162
River, 1

Rabbit and the Antelope, story of the,
90

Rainbow, superstition as to, 6
Rainfall, belief as to, 163
Rain-doctor, xxxii., 2
Rain-giving god and his rites, 138,
139

Religion, xii., and see Bantu, Deities,
Petish, Images, Ngangas, Negro,
Nkissism

Resurrection, see Life
Riddles, native African, ix.

Rivers, spirits of, 5, 88, 109, 118, 119
Rocks, superstitions as to, 4
Roman Catholic missionaries, xiii.,
xxiii.

Influ-
ence of, on the Pjort religion, xxii.,
xxx.

Sacrifices, 3, 8, 9, 96
St James, miracle of, xxiii.

San Salvador, throne-town of Congo,
xviii., xx., xxi., 1, 2
Schlieden, Hubbe, iii.

Sea and lakes, towns under the, 9,
89

superstitions as to

the, 8

symbolized by a

crab, 9

Sexual relations, 20, 21, 145
Shekiani tribe, x.

Sierra Leone, xvii., xxi.

Sister, folktale incident of the Despised,
49

Sky, beliefs about the, 7
Slavery and slaves, xxvi., 8, 22
Smart Man and the Pool, story of the,
25

Snake, song of the, 159
Sogno, Count of, xiv., 138

province of, xvi.

Song of Burial of Fjort prince, 155

of Hunger, 150, 161

of Life, 151

of Loango Women, 160

of the Snake, 159

Songs, native African, difficulty of
interpreting, ix.

Pjort, 150

howr sung, 153

Souls, Catching, xxix.

doctrine of, 116

transferring soul of deceased,

115, 159

Spells, 17, 18, and see Amulets
Charms

Spider won and lost Nzambi'
Daughter, story of How the, ii., 7
74

Stanley Pool, i.

Stars, 7

INDEX.

169

Stories, classes of, ix.

historical, rare, ix.

how told, 25

legal, their use and value, x.

play-stories, xii.

position of, in native culture,

ix.

Sun, legend of the, 6
Sunga punished my great-uncle’s twin-
brother, Basa, story of How the
fetish, 6, 88

Sunken towns, see Hospitality, Lake
Symbols of native song, string of, 150,
151

how used, 153

Taboo, see Kazila, Prohibitions
Tar-bahy, folktale incident of the, 92
Tekklifumu, title of subordinate chief,
xxxi. , xxxii.

Thunder, superstitions as to, 7
Totems, animal, unknown, xxvii.
Traders as authorities on African folk-
lore, iii., vi.

lend money to native princes

and traders, 22

Transformation, belief in the power
of, 10

in tales, 5, 42, 52, 57,

105

Travellers often untrustworthy on
African folklore, iii.

Tshi-speaking peoples, ix., x.

Turtle and the man, story of the, 77
Twin brother, Basa, story of How the
fetish, Sunga, punished my great
uncle’s, 6, 88

brothers, story of the, 60

Twins, superstitions as to, 8

Unclean, means prohibited in Mr.
Dennett’s phraseology, xxix.

Vanishing wife, story of the, see Wife

Waddell, Rev. H. M., v.

Waterspouts, 8
Week, days of the, 8, 137
White, others black, story of Why
some men are, 18, 101
iVhitford, J., vi

Wife, folktale incident of the Super-
natural, 39, 42
stealing, iv.

story of the ill-used, saved by

her son, 28

story of the jealous, 46

story of the vanishing, i., 39, 42

Wilson, Rev. J. L., v., xxx.
Witchcraft, xxiii., 112, 114
Witch-doctors, 16
Witches dwell in forests, 9

fear of being considered, 156

treatment of dead, 6, 112, and

see Ndotchi

Wives restored their husband to life,
story of How the, 33
Wizards, xiv.,and see Ndotchi, Witch-
craft, Witches

Woman overreaches herself, story of
the, 86

Woodpecker, see Animals, Helpful

Xina, see Kazila

Year, division of the, 8
Yoruba-speaking peoples, ix.

Zaire, see Congo river
Zimini, supernatural being under the
sea, 9

Zinganga, see Ngangas

PRINTED BY J. B. NICHOLS AND SONS, PARLIAMENT MANSIONS, VICTORIA STREET, S.W. .

The Folk-Lore Society.

(1893.)

13 resident.
ALFRED NUTT.

Uice-'lSrfSttrents.

THE HON. JOHN ABERCROMBY.

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finance anlr Crneral Purposes Committee.

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Newberry Library, Chicago, per B. F. Stevens, 4, Trafalgar Square, W.C.
Newcastle Literary and Philosophical Society, Newcastle-on-Tyne.

New Jersey, The College of, Princeton, N. J., U.S.A., per E. C. Osho
Esq. , Treasurer.

New York, College of the City of, per G. E. Stechert, 2, Star Yard,
Carey Street, W.C.

New York State Library, per G. E. Stechert, 2, Star Yard, Carey St., W.C.
Nicholson, C. N., Esq., 35, Harrington Gardens, S.W.

Ninnis, Belgrave, Esq., M.D., F.S.A., F.R.A.S., F.R.G.S., Brockenhurst,
Aldrington Road, Streatham, S.W.

Nottingham Free Public Library.

Nutt, Alfred, Esq., 270, Strand ( President ).

Oelsner, H., Esq., Springfield, Honor Oak Park, S.E.

Oldfield, Capt. F. H., R.E., Scottish Conservative Club, Edinburgh.

Olrik, Dr. Axel, Martinsvej, 9, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Ordish, T. F., Esq., F.S.A., Warwick House, Warwick Court, Gray’s Inn,
W.C.

Owen, Rev. Elias, M.A., F.S.A., Llanyblodwel Vicarage, Oswestry.

Owen, Miss Mary A., 306, North Ninth Street, St. Joseph, Missouri
U.S.A.

Paget, Lady, Litchfield Lodge, Bodenham Road, Hereford.

C. Paris, M. Gaston, Membre de l’Institut, 2, Rue Pommereu, Passy, Paris.
Parker, Mrs. K. Langloh, Banyate, Walgett, New South Wales.

Paton, W. R., Esq., Vathy, Samos, Turkey, via Smyrna.

Payne, Mrs. George, The Precincts, Rochester.

Peabody Institute, Baltimore, U.S.A., per E. G. Allen, Esq., 28, Henrietta
Street, W.C.

Peacock, E., Esq., F.S.A., Dunstan House, Kirton-in-Lindsey, Lincolnshire.
Peorio, Public Library of, per G. E. Stechert, Esq., 2, Star Yard, Carey
Street, W.C.

Philadelphia, The Library Company of, U.S.A., per E. G. Allen, Esq., 28,
Henrietta Street, W.C.

Philpot, Mrs. J. H., 61, Chester Square, S.W.

Phipson, Miss, 5, Park Place, Upper Baker Street, N.W.

Pineau, Mons. Leon, 60, Boulevard Beranger, Tours, France.

Pitt-Rivers, Lieut. -General, D.C.L., F.R.S., F.S.A., Rushmore, Salisbury

( Vice-President).

Plymouth Institution and Devon and Cornwall Natural History Society,
per C. S. Jago, Esq., Plymouth Public School.

Pocklington-Coltman, Mrs., Hagnaby Priory, Spilsby, Lincolnshire.

Powell, Professor F. York, M.A., F.S.A., Christ Church, Oxford ( Vice-

President ).

x Officers and Members.

C. Power, D’Arcy, Esq., M.A., M.B., E.S.A., 10a, Chandos Street, Cavendish
Square, W.

Price, E. G. Hilton, Esq., F.S.A., E.G.S., 17, Collingham Gardens, S. Ken-
sington, S.W.

Providence Public Library, per G.E. Stechert, 2, Star Yard, Carey St.. W.C.
Pulling, Alexander, Esq., 20, Stanford Road, Kensington, W.

Pusey, S. E. Bouverie, Esq., F.R.G.S., 18, Bryanston St., Portman Sq., W.

Raynbird, H., junr., Esq., Garrison Gateway Cottage, Old Basing,
Basingstoke.

Reade, John, Esq., 270, Laval Avenue, Montreal, Canada.

Reichel, H. R., Esq., Penrallt, Bangor, N. Wales.

Reynolds, Llywarch, Esq., B.A., Old Church Place, Merthyr Tydvil.

Rhys, Professor John, M.A., LL.D., Jesus College, Oxford ( Vice-

President' ).

Risley, H. H., Esq., M.A., C.I.E., care of Messrs. Thacker, 2, Creed Lane,
Ludgate Hill, E.C.

Rohrscheid and Ebbecke, Messrs., Buchhandlung, Am Hof, 28, Bonn.
Rossall, J. H., Esq., Charleville, Roscrea, Ireland.

Rouse, W. H. D., Esq., M.A., 4, Bilton Road, Rugby.

Royal Irish Academy, per Hodges, Figgis, and Co., 104, Grafton Street,
Dublin.

Rndmose-Brown, T. B., Esq., 52, Beaconsfield Place, Aberdeen.

Rylands, Mrs., Langford Hall, Stretford, Manchester, per Arnold Green,
56, Paternoster Row, E.C.

Salisbury, J., Esq., 48, Fleet Lane, E.C.

Saunders, J. E. Esq., F.S.A., F.G.S., 9, Finsbury Circus, E.C.

Saussaye, Professor P. D. C, Beek, near Nymegen, Holland.

Savage, Rev. E. B., M.A., F.S.A., St. Thomas’ Vicarage, Douglas, Isle
of Man.

Sayce Rev. Prof. A. H., M.A., LL.D., Queen’s College, Oxford (23,
Chepstow Villas, W.) ( Vice-President ).

Scott, J. G., Esq., per R. F. Scott, Esq., St. John s College, Cambridge.
Sebillot, Mons. Paul, 80, Boulevard St. Marcel, Paris.

Seebohm, F., Esq., LL.D., F.S.A., The Hermitage, Hitchin, Herts.
Seligmann, C. G., Esq., care of A. Solomon, Esq., Portland House,
Basinghall Street, E.C.

Sessions, F., Esq., Monkleighton, Alexandra Road, Gloucester.

Sidgwick, Mrs. C., The Manor House, Kingston, Taunton.

Signet Library, Edinburgh.

Sikes, E.E., Esq., St. John’s College, Cambridge.

Simpkins, J. E., Esq., Museum of Antiquities, Edinburgh.

Singer, Professor, 9, Falkesplatz, Bern, Switzerland.

Sinkinson, Mrs., Gayton Road, Harrow-on-the-Hil’.

Officers and Members .

Skilbeck, J. H., Esq., 1, Portman Mansions, Baker Street, W.

Skipwith, G. H., Esq., 3, Tanza Road, Hampstead, N.W.

Skrine, H. D., Esq., Claverton Manor, Bath.

Southam, S. Clement, Esq., Elmhurst, Shrewsbury.

Speakman, Mrs. J. G., 4, Rue Royer Collard, Paris.

Stanbery, Miss K. S., Adair Avenue, Zanesville, Ohio, U.S.A.

Stephens, The Very Rev. W. R. W., M.A., E.S.A., Dean of Winchester,
The Deanery, Winchester.

Stephenson, C. H., Esq., 64, Kew Road, Birkdale, Lancashire.

St. Helen’s Corporation Free Library, per A. Lancaster, Esq., Librarian,
Town Hall, St. Helen’s.

Stockholm, Royal Library of, per Sampson, Low and Co., St. Dunstan’s
House, Eetter Lane, E C.

Stokes, Whitley, Esq , C.S.I., C.I.E., D.C.L., LL.D., E.S.A., 15, Grenville
Place, S. Kensington, W.

Storr, Rayner, Esq.. Haslemere, Surrey.

Strafford, Right Hon. the Earl of, Wrotham Park, Barnet.

Struben, Mrs. E., 4, Albert Hall Mansions, Kensington Gore, S.W.

Stuart, Mrs. Alexander, Crear Cottage, Morningside Drive, Edinburgh.

Surgeon-General’s Office, Washington, U.S.A., per Kegan Paul, Trench
Trubner, and Co., Ld., Charing Cross Road, S.W.

Swainson, Rev. C., The Rectory, Old Charlton.

Swansea Public Library, per S. E. Thompson, Esq., Librarian.

Sydney Free Public Library, per J. Pentland Young, 38, West Smith-
field, E.C.

Tabor, C., Esq., The White House, Knotts Green, Leyton.'

Tate Library, University College, Liverpool, care of J. Sampson, Esq.
Tayler, Miss Constance, 29, Kensington Gate, W.

Taylor Institution, Oxford, per Parker and Co., 6, Southampton Street,
Strand, W.C.

Taylor, Miss Helen, Avignon, France.

Temple, Lieut.- Colonel R. C., C.I.E., Government House, Port Blair,
Andaman Islands.

Terry, F. C. Birkbeck, Esq., The Paddocks, Palgrave, Diss, Norfolk.
Thomas, N. W., Esq., 64, Church Street, Oswestry.

Thompson, Miss Skeffington, Glenelly, Chislehurst Common, Kent.
Todhunter, Dr. J., Orchardcroft, Bedford Park, W.

Tolhurst, J., Esq., F.S.A., Glenbrook, Beckenham, Kent.

Torquay Natural History Society, care of A. Somervail, Esq.

Townshend, Mrs. R. B., 80, Woodstock Road, Oxford.

Traherne, G. G., Esq., Coedarhydyglyn, Cardiff.

Traherne, L. E., Esq.. Coedriglan Park, Cardiff.

Xll

Officers and Members .

Travancore, His Highness the Maharajah of, Huzier, Cutcherrv, Trevan-
drurn, per P. Macfadyen and Co., Winchester House, Old Broad
Street, E.C.

Turnbull, A. H., Esq., Elibank, Wellington, New Zealand, per A. L. Elder
and Co., 7, St. Helen’s Place, E.C.

Tylor, Professor E. B., LL.D., D.C.L., F.R.S., The Museum House, Oxford
( Vice-President).

Udal, The Hon. J. S., Attorney-General, Fiji Islands, per Messrs. Lovell,
Son, and Pitfield, 3, Gray’s Inn Square, W.C.

Van Stockum, W. P., and Son, 36, Buitenhof, The Hague, Holland.

Voss’ Sortiment (G. Haessler), Leipzig.

Walhouse, M. J., Esq., 28, Hamilton Terrace, St. John’s Wood, N.W.

Walker, J. S. E., Esq., Persownie, Nawada, Bara, I.S. Territory, Chumparun,
Bengal.

Walker, Dr. Robert, Budleigh-Salterton, Devon, per E. W. Watson, Esq.,
22, Highbury New Park, N.

Walpole, H., Esq., India Office, Whitehall, S.W.

Wardrop, Miss Marjory, British Vice-Consulate, Kertch, Crimea, Russia.

Warner, S. G., Esq., Elmside, Bolingbroke Grove, S.W.

Waters, W. G., Esq., 7, Mansfield Street, Portland Place, W.

Watkinson Library, Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.A., per E. G. Allen, 28,
Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, W.C.

Weston, Miss J. L., Barnavie, Lansdowne Road, Bournemouth.

Wheatley, Henry B., Esq., F.S.A., 2, Oppidans Road, Primrose Hill, N.W.

White, Miss Diana, Old Priory, Sydenham.

White, George, Esq., Ashley House, Epsom.

Williamson, Rev. Charles A., 14, Upper Mount St., Dublin.

Wills, Miss M. M. Evelyn, Heathfield, Swansea.

Wilson, R. H., Esq., 23, Cromwell Crescent, S.W.

Windle, Professor B. C. A., M.A., M.D., D.Sc., Dean of Queen’s Faculty of
Medicine, Mason College, Birmingham.

C. Wissendorff, H., 19, Nadeschkinskara, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Woman’s Anthropological Society, W ashington, D.C., U.S.A., care of Mrs.
M. P. Seaman, 1424, Eleventh Street, N.W., Washington, D.C., U.S.A.

Wood, Alexander, Esq., Thornly, Saltcoats, N.B.

Woodall, E., Esq., Wingthorpe, Oswestry.

Worcester Free Public Library, Mass., U.S.A., per Kegan Paul, Trench,
Triibner, and Co., Ld.

Wright, A. R., Esq, H.M. Patent Office, 25, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, W.C.

Wright, W. Aldis, Esq., M.A., Trinity College, Cambridge.

Wurtzburg, J. H., Esq., Clavering, 2, De Greys Road, Leeds

Wyndham, George, Esq., M.P., 35, Park Lane, W.

The Folk-Lore Society.

PROSPECTUS AND LIST OF PUBLICATIONS.

JANUARY, 1898.

ilrcsitrntt.

ALFRED NUTT.

LT.-GEN. PITT-RIVERS, D.C.L.

THE HON. J. ABERCROMBY.
MISS C. S. BURNE.

EDWARD CLODD.

G. LAURENCE GOMME, F.S.A.
PROFESSOR A. C. IIADDON,
M.A., D.Sc.

ANDREW LANG, M.A.

THE RIGHT HON. SIR JOHN
LUBBOCK, BART., M.P., D.C.L.
LL.D., F.R.S.

F.R.S., F.S.A.

PROFESSOR F. YORK POWELL,
M.A., F.S.A.

PROFESSOR J. RHYS, M.A., LL.D.,
F.S.A.

THE REV. PROFESSOR A. H.
SAYCE, M.A.

PROFESSOR EDWARD B. TYLOR,
LL.D., F.R.S.

Council*

C. J. BILLSON, M.A.

DR. KARL BLIND.

MISS M. ROALFE COX.

W. CROOKE, B.A.

LELAND L. DUNCAN, F.S.A.

J. P. EMSLIE.

DR. M. GASTER.

T. GOWLAND.

E. SIDNEY HARTLAND, F.S.A.

T. W. E. HIGGENS.

iiufcUcattottg

MISS M. ROALFE COX.

W. CROOKE, B.A.

JOSEPH JACOBS, B.A.

F. B. JEVONS, M.A., Litt.D.
PROFESSOR W. P. KER, M.A.
W. F. KIRBY, F.L.S. F.E.S-
J. T. NAAKE.

T. FAIRMAN ORDISH, F.S.A.
W. H. D. ROUSE, M.A.

M. J. WALHOUSE.

HENRY B. WHEATLEY, F.S.A.
A. R. WRIGHT.

Committee.

JOSEPH JACOBS, B.A.
PROFESSOR W. P. KER, M.A.
W. F. KIRBY, F.L.S. , F.E.S

G. LAURENCE GOMME, F.S.A.

E. S. HARTLAND, F.S.A., Chairman.

With the President and Hon. Treasurer.

ffiotn Creagurer.

E. W. BRABROOK, F.S.A., 178, Bedford Hill, Balham. S.W.

$>on. &ufritor.

F. G. GREEN.

Secretary

F. A MILNE, M.A., 11, Old Square, Lincoln’s Inn, W.C.

The Folk-Lore Society

Objects of the Society.

This Society was established in 1878 for the purpose of collecting
and preserving the fast-perishing relics of Folklore. Under this
general term are included Folk-tales ; Hero-tales ; Traditional Ballads
and Songs ; Place Legends and Traditions ; Goblindom ; Witch-
craft ; Leechcraft ; Superstitions connected with material things ;
Local Customs ; Festival Customs ; Ceremonial Customs ; Games ;
Jingles, Nursery Rhymes, Riddles, etc. ; Proverbs ; Old Saws,
rhymed and unrhymed ; Nick-names, Place-rhymes and Sayings ;
F olk-Etymology.

Foreign countries have followed the example of Great Britain,
and are steadily collecting and classifying their Folklore.* It is
most gratifying to this Society to observe that one great result of its
work has been to draw attention to the subject in all parts of the
world ; and it is particularly noticeable that the word “ Folklore ”
has been adopted as the name of the subject in foreign countries.

Scope of the Society.

Since the establishment of the Society great impetus has been
given to the study and scientific treatment of those crude philoso-
phies which Folklore embodies. Hence the place now accorded to
it as a science, to be approached in the historic spirit and treated on
scientific methods. The meaning for a long time given to the term
Folklore has thus been greatly enlarged, and the definition which
the Society has adopted will illustrate the importance of the new
departure: — The science of Folklore is the comparison and identification
of the survivals of archaic beliefs , customs , and traditions in modern
ages.

* The French Societe des Traditions populaires was founded in 1885, and an
additional French Folk-Lore Society, the Societe des Traditionnistes, in 1886 ;
the American Folk-Lore Society in 1888 ; the German Verein fur Volkskunde
in 1890 ; the Swiss Gesellschaft fur Volkskunde in 1896. .

Characteristics of Folklore.

It may be well to point out the essential characteristics of
Folklore under the terms of this definition. It was found by
observation that there exists, or has existed, among the least cultured
of the inhabitants of all the countries of modern Europe, a vast body
of curious beliefs, customs, and story-narratives which are handed
down by tradition from generation to generation, and the origin of
which is unknown. They are not supported or recognised by the
prevailing religion, nor by the established law, nor by the recorded
history of the several countries. They are essentially the property
of the unlearned and least advanced portion of the community.

Then it was noted that, wherever any body of individuals,
entirely ignorant of the results of science and philosophy to which the
advanced portion of the community have attained, habitually believe
what their ancestors have taught them, and habitually practise the
customs which previous generations have practised, a state of mind
exists which is capable of generating fresh beliefs in explanation of
newly observed phenomena, and is peculiarly open to receive any
fanciful explanations offered by any particular section of the
community. Thus, in addition to the traditional belief or custom,
there is the acquired belief or custom arising from a mythic inter-
pretation of known historical or natural events.

From these potent influences in the uncultured life of a people
— traditional sanctity and pre-scientific mental activity — and from
the many modifications produced by their active continuance, it is
seen that the subjects which constitute Folklore principally consist
of the relics of an unrecorded past in man’s mental and social history.

Thus it will be seen that the subjects dealt with by the Folk-
lorist are very wide in range and of absorbing interest. Customs,
beliefs, folk-tales, institutions, and whatever has been kept alive by
the acts of the Folk are Folklore. Other studies which illustrate
Folklore, whether it be archaeology, geology, or anthropology, must
be brought to bear upon it, so that no item may be left without some
attempt to determine its place in man’s history. As Edmund
Spenser wrote, nearly three hundred years ago, “By these old

customes and other like conjecturall circumstances the descents of
nations can only be proved where other monuments of writings are
not remayning.”

Work of the Society.

The work of the Society is divided into two branches. First,
there is the collection of the remains of Folklore still extant. Much
remains to be done in our country, especially in the outlying parts
of England and Scotland, the mountains of Wales, and the rural
parts of Ireland, and the publications of the Society bear
witness to the fact that in all parts of our land the mine has
abundant rich ore remaining unworked. In European countries
for the most part there are native workers who are busy upon
the collection of Folklore ; but in India and in other states under
English dominion, besides savage lands not politically attached
to this country, there is an enormous field where the labourers are
few. No one who has opportunities of knowing the folk in his own
neighbourhood should be deterred from recording the lore gathered
from them by the fear that his information may not be worth it.
What is an everyday occurrence, seemingly of no import, in one’s
own neighbourhood, may be a new revelation to the student seeking
for links to complete his investigations. And should the same item
have been already noted elsewhere, the addition of a hitherto
unrecorded habitat will have a definite value, when accompanied by
particulars of the date when the custom was observed, the occasion
on which the superstitious notion was revealed, the person by
whom the story was related. Full instruction for the guidance of
collectors will be found in the Society’s Handbook*

Secondly, there is the very important duty of classifying and
comparing the various items of Folklore as they are gathered from
the people and put permanently on record. The section of
Folklore devoted to Folktales has been taken in hand, and
a scheme of tabulation which is being extensively used both by

See List of Publications under 1889.

workers in the Society and by other students has been prepared.
A large number of variants of one tale, namely, Cinderella, have been
collected and printed. Printed Forms are prepared for those willing
to assist in these important labours.

Ancillary tasks to the collection of oral and to the classification of
recorded material, are the preservation in a form convenient for Folk-
lore students of the vast number of facts and notices of a Folklore
character scattered in various books and periodical publications, and
the compilation of a fully detailed bibliography covering all fields of
Folklore research. A promising start towards the accomplishment of
the first task has been made in the initiation of the series entitled
“County Folk-Lore, Printed Extracts,” in which numberless items of
Folklore interest are rescued from the pages of county histories, disser-
tations of the older antiquaries, local archaeological associations, &c.,
and classified, upon a definite plan, by counties (see List of Publica-
tions, No. 37). The second task, the compilation of an adequate
Folklore bibliography, has been and still is delayed alike by the lack
of funds and the insufficiency of workers, and the Council address an
earnest appeal to all Members of the Society to come forward and aid
in its achievement.

By such means the Society feel convinced they will be able to
show how much knowledge of early man has been lying hidden for
centuries in popular traditions and customs, and this object will be
quickened by the addition to its roll of all students interested in
primitive culture. Those who cannot collect can help in the work
of classification and comparison, and much might be thus accom-
plished by a few years of hearty co-operation.

The Society further needs more ample funds to publish its
results and its materials in hand, as well as to extend the area of its
labours. Increased membership would make it possible to establish
a library and a museum of Folklore objects. Meanwhile the nucleus
of both already exists ; the former at the Secretary’s chambers, and
the latter in a case in the Cambridge University Museum, for which
space has for the present been kindly found by the authorities of
the Museum. Contributions to both are invited.

Publications.

All the publications of the Society are issued to Members, and
those volumes that are priced in the following list may be obtained
by non-members of the publisher, Mr. David Nutt, 270, Strand.

Besides the volumes prepared for the Society, Members receive
a copy of the quarterly journal, Folk- Lore , published by Mr. Nutt.
This journal is the official organ of the Society, in which all necessary
notices to Members are published, and to which Members of the
Society are invited to contribute all unrecorded items of Folk-
lore which become known to them from time to time, or any studies
on Folklore or kindred subjects which they may have prepared for
the purpose.

Subscription.

The Annual Subscription to the Society is One Guinea, and is
payable in advance on the first of January in each year. This will
entitle Members to receive the publications of the Society for such
year. Members joining during the current year, and desirous
of obtaining the publications of the Society already issued, several of
which ate becoming scarce, may do so by paying the subscriptions
for the back years. Post-office orders and cheques should be sent
to the Secretary.

Q ommunications.

All communications relating to literary matters, to contributions
to the Journal, to the work of collection, to the tabulation of Folk-
tales, &c., and to the general aims of the Society, should be made
to the Secretary. All communications respecting the delivery or
purchase of publications to the Publisher.

Persons desirous of joining the Society are requested to send in
their names to the Secretary, Mr. F. A. Milne, it, Old Square,
Lincoln’s Inn, W.C.

THE PUBLICATIONS OF THE FOLK-LORE SOCIETY
are as follows (all prices are net for cash) :

1878.

1. The Folk-Lore Record, Vol. I. 8vo, pp. xvi., 252.

[Issued to Members only.]
Mrs. Latham : West Sussex Superstitions. W. R. S. Ralston :
Notes on Folktales. A. Lang : The Folklore of France. C.
Pfoundes: Some Japan Folktales. W. J. Thoms: Chaucer’s
Night-Spell ; &c., &c.

1879.

2. Notes on the Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties of

England and the Borders, by William Henderson. A
new edition, with considerable additions by the Author. 8vo,
pp. xvii., 391. [Published at 16s.]

3. The Folk-Lore Record, Vol. II. 8vo, pp. viii., 250; Ap-

pendix, pp. 21. [Issued to Members only.]

Ii. C. Coote : The Neo-Latin Fay. J. Sibree : Malagasy Folk-
lore. J. Hardy: Popular History of the Cuckoo. J. Napier:
Old Ballad Folklore. F. G. Fleay : Some Folklore from
Chaucer. The Story of Conn-Eda ; &c., &c.

1880.

4. Aubrey’s Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme, with

the additions by Dr. White Kennet. Edited by James
Britten, F.L.S. 8vo, pp. vii., 273. [Published at 13s. 6d.]

5. The Folk-Lore Record, Vol. III., Part I. 8vo, pp. 152.

[Issued to Members only.]
H. C. Coote : Catskin. J. Fenton : Biographical Myths ;
illustrated from the Lives of Buddha and Muhammad. J. B.
Andrews : Stories from Mentone ; Ananci Stories. J. Long :
Proverbs, English and Celtic. J. S. Udal : Dorsetshire
Mummers. H. C. Coote: Indian Mother-Worship; &c., &c.

6. The Folk-Lore Record, Vol. III., Part II. 8vo, pp. 153-318;

Appendix, pp. 20. [Issued to Members only.]

G. Stephens : Two English Folktales. W. S. Lach-Szyrma :
Folklore Traditions of Historical Events. Evelyn Carrington :

Singing Games. H. C. Coote : Folklore the Source of some
of M. Galland’s tales ; &c., &c.

1881.

7. Notes on the Folk-Lore of the North-east of Scotland,

By the Rev. Walter Gregor. 8vo, pp. xii., 288. [13s. 6d.]

8. Tne Folk-Lore Record, Vol. IV. 8vo, pp. 239. [Members only.]
Alfred Nutt : The Aryan Expulsion-and-Return Formula in the

Folk- and Hero-Tales of the Celts. J. Sibree: Additional.
Folklore from Madagascar. W. S. Lach-Szyrma : Slavonic
Folklore. H. Friend : Euphemism and Tabu in China.
W. Crooke : Notes on Indian Folklore; &c., & c.

1882.

9. Researches respecting’ the Book of Sindibad. By Pro-

fessor Domenico Comparetti pp. viii., 167. — Portuguese
Folk-Tales. By Professor Z. Consiglieri Pedroso, of Lisbon •
with an Introduction by W. R. S. Ralston, M.A. pp. ix., 124.
In one vol., 8vo. [Published at 15s.]

10. The Folk-Lore Record, Vol. V. 8vo, pp.229. [Members only.]
Alfred Nutt : Mabinogion Studies, I. Bran wen, the daughter

of Llyr. R. C. Temple: Agricultural Folklore Notes (India).
Mrs. Mawer : Roumanian Folklore Notes. G. L. Gomme ;
Bibliography of English Folklore Publications (A — B). R.
Clark : Wexford Folklore. North American Indian Legends
and Fables ; &c., &c.

1883.

11. Folk-Lore Journal, Vol. I. (Monthly.) [Not sold separately.]
W. G. Black: The Hare in Folklore. D. G. Brinton: Folklore

of Yucatan. J Britten : Irish Folktales. A. Lang : Anthro-
pology and the Vedas. F. E. Sawyer : St. Swithin and
Rainmakers. Professor Sayce: Babylonian Folklore. J. Sibree:
On the Oratory, Songs, Legends, and Folktales of the
Malagasy. C. Swinnerton : Four Legends of King Rasalu.
R. C. Temple : Panjabi Proverbs. C. S. Wake : Ananci
Stories.

12. Folk Medicine. By W. G. Black. 8vo, pp. ii., 227. [13s. 6d.]

1884.

14. Folk-Lore Journal, Vol. II. (Monthly.) [Not sold separately.]
J. Abercromby: Irish Stories; Irish Bird-Lore. J. Britten : Irish

Folktales. Ed. Clodd: The Philosophy of Punchkin. H. C.
Coote: Sicilian Children’s Games. The Folklore of Drayton.
W. Gregor : Folktales from Aberdeenshire. W. H. Jones and
L. Kropf: Szekely Folk-Medicine. G. A. Kinahan : Conne-
mara Folklore. Countess Martinengo-Cesaresco : American
Games and Songs. Rich. Morris : Folktales of India. Alf.
Nutt : Irish Mythology according to a recent Writer. F. E.
Sawyer : Sussex Tipteerer’s Play ; Old Clem Celebrations.

J. Sibree : Malagasy Folktales. R. C. Temple : Burmese

Ordeals.

15. The Religious System of the Amazulu. By the Bishop

of St. John’s, Kaffraria. [Out of print.]

1885.

16. Folk-Lore Journal, Vol, III. (Quarterly.) [Published at 20s.]
Ch. S. Burne : The Science of Folklore. H. C. Coote : Origin

of the Robin Hood Epos, The Folklore of Drayton. G. L.
Gomme : The Science of Folklore. W. Gregor : Some Folk-
lore of the Sea. E. S. Hartland : The Science of Folklore ;
The Forbidden Chamber. T. H. Moore : Chilian Popular
Tales. Rich. Morris : Folktales of India (Jatakas). R. C.
Temple : North Indian Proverbs.

17. Folk-Lore and Provincial Names of British Birds.

By the Rev. C. Swainson. [Not sold separately.]

18 86.

18. Folk-Lore Journal, Vol. IV. (Quarterly.) [Published at 20s.]
Ch. S. Burne : Classification of Folklore; Staffordshire Guiser’s

Play. M. A. Courtney: Cornish Feasts and Feasten Custom.
W. Gregor : Folklore of the Sea ; Children’s Amusements.
E. S. Hartland : The Outcast Child. G. H. Kinahan
Donegal Superstitions. Rich. Morris : Folktales of India
J. S. Stuart-Glennie : Classification of Folklore. R. C
Temple : The Science of Folklore.

[13.] Magyar Folk-Tales. By the Rev. W. H. Jones and
Lewis H. Kropf. [Published at 15s.]

1887.

19. Folk-Lore Journal, Vol. V. (Quarterly.) [Published at 20s.]
W. H. Babcock : American Song-Games. W. G. Black : North
Friesland Folktales. C. P. Bowditch : Negro Songs from
Barbados. A. Colles: A Witch’s Ladder. M. A. Courtney:
Cornish Folklore. J. G. Frazer: A Witch’s Ladder. M. Gaster:
The Modern Origin of Fairy Tales. J. S. King : Folklore of
the Western Somali Tribes. W. F. Kirby : The Forbidden
Doors of the Thousand and One Nights. C. G. Leland : The
Witch’s Ladder. N. G. Mitchell Innes : Chinese Birth,

Marriage, and Death Rites. Mrs. Murray-Aynsley : Secular
and Religious Dances of Primitive Peoples. G. Taylor :
Folklore of Aboriginal Formosa.

1888.

21. Folk-Lore Journal, Vol. VI. (Quarterly.) [Not sold separately.]
R. Abercromby : Cloud-Land in Folklore. W. H. Babcock :

Folktales collected near Washington. J. Batchelor : Some
Specimens of Aino Folklore. B. H. Chamberlain : Aino
Folktales. Miss Dempster : Folklore of Sutherlandshire. J. J.
Foster : Dorset Folklore. J. G. Frazer : Folklore at Bal-
quhidder. D. F. A. Hervey : Traditions of the Aborigines
of Malacca. J. S. King : Folklore and Social Customs of the
Western Somali Tribes. Rajah Donan : A Malay Fairy

Tale ; &c., &c.

22. Aino Folk-Tales. By Basil Hall Chamberlain, with Intro-

duction by Edward B. Tylor. (Privately printed and sold to
Members of the Society only, price 5s. Not included in the
Annual Subscription.)

23. Studies in the Legend of the Holy Grail, with especial

reference to the Hypothesis of its Celtic Origin. By

Alfred Nutt. [10s. 6d.]

1889.

24. Folk-Lore Journal, Vol. VII. (Quarterly.)

[Not sold separately, only in set.]
J. Abercromby : The Beliefs and Religious Superstitions of

the Mordvins. Ch. S. Burne : Derbyshire and Staffordshire
Sayings. Ed. Clodd : The Philosophy of Rumpelstiltskin
J. G. Frazer : Notes on Harvest Customs ; A South African
Red Riding Hood. G. L. Gomme : Coorg Folklore.

W. Gregor : Aberdeenshire Folktales. Rich. Morris : Death’s
Messengers. T. F. Ordish : Morris Dance at Revesby.
R. F. St. A. St. John : Indo-Burmese Folklore. Prof. Sayce :
Cairene Folklore. J. S. Udal : Dorsetshire Children’s Games.

25. Gaelic Folk-Tales. Edited and translated by the Rev. D.

Mclnnes, with notes by Alfred Nutt.

[Not sold separately in Society binding, but copies may be
had from D. Nutt at 15s. net.]

[20.] The Handbook of Folk-Lore. [Published at 2s. 6d.]

1890.

26. The Exempla of Jacques de Vitry. with Introduction,

Analysis, and Notes. Edited by Professor T. F. Crane.

[Not sold separately ; only in set.]

27. Folk-Lore, Vol. I. (Issued quarterly.) [Published at 15s.]
A. Lang : Presidential Address ; English and Scotch Fairy

Tales. J. Abercromby: Magic Songs of the Finns; Marriage
Customs of the Mordvins. A. C. Haddon : Legends from
Torres Straits. W. Ridgeway : Greek Trade Routes to
Britain. E. S. Hartland : Recent Research on Folktales ;
Peeping Tom and Lady Godiva. F. York Powell : Recent
Research on Teutonic Mythology. J. G. Frazer : Some
Popular Superstitions of the Ancients, G. L. Gomme : A
Highland Folktale and its Foundation in Usage. James
Darmesteter and A. Barth : “ How they met themselves.”
A. Nutt : Reports on Celtic Myth and Saga, 1888-89, and
on the Campbell MSS. at Edinburgh. R. H. Busk : Report
on Italian Folksongs. C. S. Burne : The Collection of
English Folklore. S. Schechter : The Riddles of Solomon
in Rabbinic Literature. J. H. S. Lockhart : Notes on
Chinese Folklore; The Marriage Ceremonies of the Manchus.
J. Jacobs : Recent Research in Comparative Religion ;
P. Kowalewsky : Marriage among the Early Slavs. W. A
Clouston : The Story of The Frog Prince.

1891.

28. Folk-Lore, Vol. II. (Issued quarterly.) [Published at 15s.]
G. L. Gomme : Annual Address ; Recent Research on Institu-
tions. J. Abercromby: Magic Songs of the Finns. M. Gaster:
The Legend of the Grail. Col. G. Maxwell : Slava. W. Gregor :
The Scotch Fisher Child ; Weather Folklore of the Sea.
A. Nutt An Early Irish Version of The Jealous Stepmother
and the Exposed Child. R. F. St. A. St. John, Bhuridatta.
E. S. Hartland : Report on Folktale Research, 1890. Mrs.
M. C. Balfour : Legends of the Lincolnshire Cars. J. Aber-
cromby: An Amazonian Custom in the Caucasus-. J. Jacobs:
Childe Rowland. F. B. Jevons : Report on Greek Mythology.
J. Rhys : Manx Folklore and Superstitions. T. F. Ordish :
Folkdrama. J. Sibree : The Folklore of Malagasy Birds
J. G. Bourke : Notes upon the Religion of the Apache
Indians. Alfred Nutt : Les derniers travaux allemands et
la legende du Saint-Graal.

29. The Denham Tracts. Vol, I. Edited by Dr. James

Hardy. [Published at 13s. 6d.]

1892.

30. Folk-Lore, Vol. III. (Issued quarterly.) [Published at 15s.]
G. L. Gomme : Presidential Address. A. Nutt : The Lai of

Eliduc and the Marchen of Little Snow-white ; Celtic Myth
and Saga, 1890-91. J. Abercromby: Magic Songs of the
Finns ; Samoan Tales ; An Analysis of certain Finnish Myths
of Origin. W. Gregor : Guardian Spirits of Wells and Lochs.
J. Rhys : Manx Folklore and Superstitions; “First Foot” in
the British Isles. D. Elmslie : Folklore Tales of Central
Africa. E. S. Hartland : Folktale Research, 1890-91 ;
The Sin-Eater. A. Tille : German Christmas and Christmas
Tree. A. MacBain : The Baker of Beauly. J. Sibree :
Divination among the Malagasy. Mrs. E. Gutch : The Pied
Piper of Hamelin. J. S. Stuart-Glennie : Dr. Tylor’s Views
on Animism. J. Macdonald : Bantu Customs and Legends.
M. Wilmotte : Importance du Folklore pour les etudes de
l’ancien Frangais. C. J. Billson : The Easter Hare. Whitley
Stokes : The Bodleian Dinnschenchas, edited and translated.

M. L. Dames : Balochi Tales. Cecil Smith : Recent Greek
Archgeology in its relation to Folklore.

31. Cinderella. Three hundred and forty-five variants. Edited
by Miss M. Roalfe Cox. [Published at 15s.]

1893.

32 Folk-Lore, Vol. IV. (Issued quarterly.) [Published at 15s.]
G. L. Gomme : Presidential Address. J. Abercromby : Magic
Songs of the Finns. W. H. D. Rouse : May Day in
Cheltenham. J. Rhys : Sacred Wells in Wales. E. S.
Hartland: Folktale Research, 1892; Pin-Wells and Rag-
Bushes. A. Nutt . Cinderella and Britain ; Some Recent
Utterances of Mr. Newell and Mr. Jacobs, a Criticism.
G. M. Godden : The False Bride ; The Sanctuary of
Mourie. T. F. Ordish : English Folk-drama. L. L.
Duncan : Folklore Gleanings from County Leitrim. M. L.
Dames : Balochi Tales. May Robinson and M. J. Wal-
house : Obeah Worship in East and West Indies. W. A.
Craigie : The Oldest Icelandic Folklore. J. Jacobs : Cin-
derella in Britain. E. Peacock : The Cow-Mass. G. Hastie,
Jas. E. Crombie : First Footing. P. Gave : Szekely Tales.
A. C. Haddon : A Batch of Irish Folklore. A. Nutt : Celtic
Myth and Saga, 1892-93. A. Lang : Cinderella and the
Diffusion of Tales. W. Stokes : The Edinburgh Dinnschen-
chas. R. H. Codrington : Melanesian Folklore.

33. Saxo-Grammaticus. Books I.-IX. Translated by Oliver

Elton, with introduction by Professor York Powell.

[Not sold separately in Society binding, but copies may be
had from D. Nutt at 15s. net.]

1894.

34. Folk-Lore, Vol. V. (Issued quarterly. . [Published at 20s.]
G. L. Gomme : Presidential Address. W. H. D. Rouse :

Religious Tableaux in Italian Churches. F. Fawcett : Early
Races of South India. C. S. Burne : Guy Fawkes on the
South Coast. F. York Powell : Saga-Growth. E. Anichkof :
St. Nicolas and Artemis.. W. P. Ker : The Roman van
Walewein. J. Jacobs, A. Nutt : The Problem of Diffusion.

L. L Duncan : Further Notes from County Leitrim. A. W.
Moore : Water and Well-Worship in Man G. W. Wood :
On the Classification of Proverbs and Sayings in Manx and
English. M. J. Walhouse : Ghostly Lights. K. Meyer :
The Irish Mirabilia in the Norse Speculum Regale . A. C.
Haddon : Legends from the Woodlarks, British New Guinea.

35. Denham Tracts, Vol. II. [Published at 13s. 6d.]

1895.

36. Folk-Lore, Vol. VI. (Issued quarterly.) [Published at 20s.]
E. Clodd: Presidential Address. A. J. Evans : The Rollright
Stones and their Folklore. T. Walters : Some Corean
Customs and Notions. W. W. Groome : Suffolk Leech-
craft. A. E. Crawley : Taboos of Commensality. R. C.
Maclagan : Notes on Folklore Objects collected in Argyle-
shire. M. MacPhail : Traditions, Customs, and Super-
stitions of the Lewis. W. H. D. Rouse : Notes from Syria.
J. P. Lewis : Folklore from North Ceylon. G. M. Godden :
The Sacred Marriage. A. Lang : Protest of a Psycho-
Folklorist. J. E. Crombie : Shoe-throwing at Weddings.
C. J. Billson : Folksongs in the Kalevala . W. A. Craigie :
Donald Ban and the B6can. H. F. Feilberg : Hopscotch-
as played in Denmark. The “Witch-burning” at Clonmel.

37. County Folk-Lore. Printed Extracts. Vol. I. Gloucester-
shire, Suffolk, Leicester and (Rutland.

[Published at 15s.]

1896.

38. Folk-Lore, Vol. VII. (Issued quarterly.) [Published at 20s.]
E. Clodd : Presidential Address. B. G. Corney : Leprosy
Stones in Fiji. F. C. Conybeare : The Barlaam and Josaphat
Legend in the Ancient Georgian and Armenian Literatures.
W. H. D. Rouse : Folklore Firstfruits from Lesbos. L. L.
Duncan : Fairy Beliefs, &c., from County Leitrim ; The
Quicken-Tree of Dubhross. M. Gaster : Fairy Tales from
inedited Hebrew MSS. of the Ninth and Twelth Centuries.
F. W. Bourdillon : The Genesis of a Romance-hero, as illus-
trated by the development of Taillefer de Leon. M. Peacock

Executed Criminals and Folk-Medicine ; The Hood-Game
at Haxey, Lincolnshire. J. Abercromby : Funeral Masks in
Europe. C. S. Burne : Staffordshire Folk and their Lore.

39. The Procession and Elevation of the Ceri at Gnbbio.

By H. M. Bower. [Published at 7s. 6d ]

1897.

40. Folk-Lore, Vol- VIII. (Issued quarterly.) [Published at 20s
A. Nutt : Presidential Address, the Fairy Mythology of

English Literature, its Origin and Nature. J. B. Andrews :
Neapolitan Witchcraft. T. Doherty: Notes on the Peasantry of
Innishowen, Co. Donegal. H. Gollancz: The History of Sind-
ban and the Seven Wise Masters, translated from the Syriac.
R. E. Dennett : Death and Burial of the Fiote. Mary H.
Kingsley; The Fetish View of the Human Soul. M. J.
Walhouse : Folklore Parallels and Coincidences. R. C.
Maclagan : Ghost Lights of the West Highlands. W. P. Ker :
Notes on Orendel and other Stories. P. Manning : Some
Oxfordshire Seasonal Festivals. W. Crooke : The Binding
of a God : a Study of the Basis of Idolatry.

41. The Folk-Lore of the Fiote (French Congo), by R. M.

Dennett. [In the Press.]

The Society also has the very small remainder stock of the late
Bishop Callaway’s “Nursery Tales and Traditions of the Zulus.”
Price, to Members only , 21s.

The Society also issues “The Transactions of the Second
International Folk-Lore Congress” (London, 1891), edited by
J. Jacobs and Alfred Nutt. 15s.

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